Soviet Mine Clearing on Roads

From the beginning of the Chechnya conflict in December 1994 until the summer of 1995, Chechen forces seldom used mines against the Russian forces. In July or August 1995, Chechen forces began using mines regularly and they continued to use them until the end of the conflict in 1996. The Chechens did not employ many conventional mines but improvised them using artillery rounds, aviation munitions, grenades, and other explosives. They also employed captured Russian mines, including directional mines, which they mounted off the ground to explode on the flanks or above vehicles and personnel. Most of the Chechen mines were laid on or adjacent to roads and highways. As a result of their experiences in Afghanistan and Chechnya, the Russian sappers have developed new techniques for clearing roads in a counterinsurgency.

A Russian motorized rifle regiment normally is given responsibility for clearing roads. If the entire regiment is going to physically move on the road, the regiment constitutes a Movement Support Detachment (OOD--otryad obespecheniya dvizheniya), which includes a tank with a mine roller, a sapper squad mounted on a BTR (wheeled personnel carrier), and scouts and mine-clearing personnel. The OOD moves in front of the regiment and clears the road. If the regiment is responsible for clearing and securing a portion of a road on a long-term basis (such as protecting lines of communication in Afghanistan or Chechnya), the Russians deploy a mine reconnaissance detachment to check the section of road that the regiment maintains. The mine reconnaissance detachment normally consists of a tank with a mine roller, a sapper squad mounted on its BTR, and a covering force mounted on two or three BMPs (tracked armored personnel carriers). As they move, the tank uses its main gun to blast any suspicious objects, such as piles of trash or burned-out vehicles. The sappers must be particularly alert in areas where the enemy might employ command-detonated mines. Once the regiment's section of road is cleared, the regimental commander reports this fact to his higher headquarters. No convoy movement is allowed on the road until all commanders have reported that their sections are cleared.

So-called "green zones" were a constant source of trouble in Afghanistan. A green zone is an agricultural area of gardens and vineyards that is bisected by a network of irrigation ditches. In Afghanistan, green zones provided concealment for guerrilla forces and were practically impassible for vehicles. The green zones in many parts of the country bordered highways and provided optimum sites for ambush. Antitank mines, antipersonnel mines, and command-detonated mines were easily concealed in the edges of green zones, where ambush parties and snipers preyed on dismounted scouts and sappers.

The Russians now recommend the formation shown in the illustration for clearing roads. A tank or BMP pushing a mine roller moves in front of the formation. On its flanks and slightly ahead move dismounted motorized riflemen and sappers with electronic mine detectors, who clear snipers and ambushes. The mine detection group, equipped with mine-detection dogs, follows some 40 or 50 meters behind the tank. They carefully look for mines on the road and road shoulders. Sappers with electronic mine detectors move on the road about 15-20 meters behind the mine detection group. Walking on the right and left sides of the road, two or three sappers with electronic mine detectors and mine probes clear an area about 20-40 meters on the flanks of the road. A covering force of dismounted motorized riflemen follow the sappers who clear the flanks. The BTR and BMPs follow the dismounted party and the mine reconnaissance detachment commander (usually a platoon leader), who controls the activity from the middle of the formation. The average clearing speed of such a formation is about two kilometers per hour. The vulnerability of the sappers to snipers and ambush in Afghanistan and Chechnya was a problem for the Soviets/Russians. This formation protects the sappers with both dismounted infantry and vehicle-mounted direct-fire weapons.

In addition to using dogs, electronic mine detectors, and probes, Russian sappers are taught to look for signs of soil disturbance, soil discoloration, dents or depressions on the earth's surface, and other signals. Such signals include tunneling, broken branches and debris, trash associated with mines or demolitions, trip wires, wire leading away from the site, patches in road work, loose cobblestones, or other indications of mining. When a member of the detachment finds a mine, the detachment stops and the finder marks the mine's location with a small red flag. The detachment commander and an experienced sapper move to the site and examine the mine. If the commander decides to destroy it, every member of the group draws a circle on the ground where he is standing and marks it with the first letter of his last name and whatever else is necessary to find it again. All the members, except the one-man demolition party, then move behind the armored vehicles or into a ditch for protection. The demolition party places an electrically-primed charge on the mine, moves to a safe location, and detonates the charge. After the mine blows up, the group members return to their last location and resume the search. If the commander decides to disarm the mine, a single sapper is given the mission. He carefully examines the area within a radius of at least 1.5 meters around the mine for other mines, trip wires, or detonator wires. Then he carefully scrapes the concealing layer off the mine; exposes the sides of the mine; and looks for antilift devices, other mines underneath the first, and booby traps. He removes the mine fuze and uses a grappling hook and rope to pull the mine from the hole. He then examines the hole to check for additional mines. Disarmed mines are collected for destruction or evacuation.

Contemporary Russian Formation for Clearing Roads

Distance is in meters (m)
1. Tank with mine roller.
2. Mine detection group with dogs and their search pattern.
3. Russian sappers clear road flanks.
4. Sappers with electronic mine detectors clear a road.
5. Detachment commander.
6. Covering force.

7. Sappers moving with flank security elements.