Direct proof of use
Human Rights Watch identified TM-62-series anti-vehicle mines as the most frequently observed hand-emplaced anti-vehicle mine type in Ukraine after Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion. The same briefing reported extensive anti-vehicle mine use by both Russian and Ukrainian forces in Donetsk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia regions, with TM-62M and TM-62P3 variants specifically documented.
Mine Action Review likewise described both Russian and Ukrainian forces as using at least 13 anti-vehicle mine types after February 2022, mostly manually or mechanically emplaced TM-62-series mines. Human Rights Watch separately reported a May 2022 Kharkiv-area tractor incident involving a TM-62 anti-vehicle mine placed by Russian forces, while Associated Press reporting carried by Voice of America described a Ukrainian unit burying TM-62 mines on a forest track in the eastern Donbas to block Russian advances.
Sources: HRW Background Briefing on Landmine Use in Ukraine, Mine Action Review Ukraine 2023, HRW Ukraine Russian Landmine Use Endangers Civilians, VOA/AP Mines Take Lives in Ukraine
Timeline
Before the 2022 escalation, DFRLab assessed July 2018 photographs of TM-62P3 mines uploaded by a Russia-backed Luhansk separatist as evidence of anti-tank mines being readied for deployment in eastern Ukraine. DFRLab treated the images as evidence from the entrenched Donbas phase rather than as a complete picture of mine use across the line of contact.
After the full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022, TM-62-series mines appeared quickly in open-source and field reporting. Human Rights Watch cited a February 27 video of a fuzed TM-62-series mine being removed from a road near Berdyansk, evidence of Ukrainian forces mechanically emplacing TM-62M mines on beaches near Odesa, and May 2022 footage of TM-62P3 mines in Kharkiv oblast attributed to the Ukrainian Stugna battalion.
By September and October 2023, Ukrainian drone units were documented adapting TM-62 mines as heavy drone-dropped munitions. The Armourer's Bench analyzed videos showing large drones carrying and dropping TM-62M or TM-62-pattern mines, including footage attributed to the K-2 drone team of Ukraine's 54th Brigade.
Sources: DFRLab Anti-Tank Mining Continues in Donbas, HRW Background Briefing on Landmine Use in Ukraine, The Armourers Bench Heavy Drone Bombers
Operational role
The TM-62's documented role in Ukraine is primarily anti-vehicle mine warfare: hand-emplaced or mechanically emplaced mines used to threaten vehicles, restrict movement, protect positions, and deny routes or terrain. HRW's incident reporting from the Kharkiv and Kyiv regions shows the same mine contamination affecting fields, rural roads, and post-occupation clearance work, not only front-line military movement.
Use by both sides should be separated from legal status claims about other mine categories. HRW reported Russian antipersonnel mine use and Ukrainian obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty separately; the TM-62 evidence on this page concerns anti-vehicle mines, which HRW and Mine Action Review documented as used by both Russian and Ukrainian forces.
Sources: HRW Background Briefing on Landmine Use in Ukraine, Mine Action Review Ukraine 2023, HRW Ukraine Russian Landmine Use Endangers Civilians, VOA/AP Mines Take Lives in Ukraine
Drone-dropped adaptation
The TM-62 also appears in Ukraine as an improvised aerial munition. Open-source video analysis by The Armourer's Bench described large Ukrainian bomber drones carrying TM-62M mines in release trays, later footage with tail-stabilized TM-62-based munitions, and K-2 drone team footage of TM-62 mines dropped on Russian positions.
That adaptation is distinct from conventional mine emplacement. The sources identify a mine body being repurposed as a heavy dropped explosive, not a remote mining system or a standard factory delivery method.
Sources: The Armourers Bench Heavy Drone Bombers
