Poland Plans Mine-Laying Sites Along Russia and Belarus Border
Deputy minister Cezary Tomczyk says Poland will prepare mine-laying sites on its eastern border under “Eastern Shield,” with landmines deployed only in a crisis.
Poland is preparing to lay mines along its eastern border, Deputy Minister of National Defense Cezary Tomczyk said.
Poland is implementing the «Eastern Shield» program on its border with Russia and Belarus. According to a statement from the office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the government intends to build a comprehensive defensive infrastructure on NATO’s eastern flank to counter what it describes as threats from Belarus and Russia.
Tomczyk said Poland will prepare locations for mine-laying along the border, but the actual deployment of landmines would only take place if a crisis occurs. He said that, in simple terms, the «Eastern Shield» program includes both the construction of engineering barriers and the preparation of sites for mine-laying, while landmines themselves would be used only in the event of a real threat of war.
In June 2025, Poland announced it had begun the process of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention. The international treaty bans the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and requires their destruction. It was signed on December 3, 1997 in Ottawa, Canada, and entered into force on March 1, 1999. A total of 163 countries have joined the convention.
In December 2025, Polish authorities also said the country would resume anti-personnel mine production for the first time since the Cold War. The mines are expected to become part of the «Eastern Shield» defense program along the border with Russia and Belarus.