Seán Moorhouse’s Post

Back in June, a document showing Russian mine laying and booby-trapping was recovered from the body of a Russian sniper. I suspect that its creator had copied drawings from a field manual on mine laying/booby traps. This document has been around for more than 5 months now, so all of the operational intelligence value has evaporated. Those of you operating in Ukraine have already seen this document but for those of you who are interested in Russian TTPs, I have provided some basic interpretation. Pages 1 and 2 show some pretty novel ways to use hand grenades on tripwires. The grenades are modified by using MUV fuzes and MD-5 detonators. Note drawing #9, which shows fish hooks attached to tripwires at chest height. This method has been seen on the ground. Page 3 – note the combination of the MVE-NS with MON-50s and OZM-72s Page 4 – is an interesting use of VO, timer and electric switches. Drawing #2 appears to show the rotation effect of a fan being used to pull the pin on a MUV fuze, which is new to me. Page 5 – note the daisy-chaining and the positioning of the combination of MON-50 and OZM-72 Page 6 – Shows the modification and replacement of grenade igniters (fuzes) to make them zero delay. Interesting to see the Soviet VPF pull switch, which was thought to be obsolete – this is a WW2-era device. Page 7 – note the daisy-chaining and the positioning of the combination of MON-50, OZM-72 and PMN. The use of the ML-7 anti-lift switch is also specified to need a weight of at least 300 g on top of it. I had always been told that the ML-7 required 250 g of weight on top. This page also shows the use of the MVE-NS or MVE-72 (breakwire) in conjunction with relatively complex mine/munition combinations. Page 8 – note the positioning of ML-7, MS-3 and F-1 under OZM-72s Page 9 – My Russian isn’t good enough to determine much about this, other than it looks like some sheet explosive cutting charges. Page 10 – Shows the set-up of a variety of route ambushes. Note the command-initiated, double-stacked TM62s and the 3 x TM-62s daisy-chained together with 2 being fitted with MS-3 switches. Page 11 – note the use of improvised, enhanced fragmentation, effects around conventional munitions. There are also command-initiated and VI groups of mines. Page 12 – note the daisy-chaining of MON-50s with OZM-72s and grenades. Picture 6 shows 2 pieces of metal foil, forming part of an electrical firing circuit. When a metal prodder pierces both pieces of foil, it closes a circuit and fires a MON-50. This foil method has also been found on the enemy side of AV mines. Page 13 – note the 30m spacing between OZM-72s, to allow for the complete overlap of their 25m fatal radius. The OZM-72 are positioned with a command-initiated MON-50 in overwatch. This is the first diagram showing that a minefield should be covered by fire. The lower diagram shows the positioning of 3 x MON-50 to ensure that there is an overlap of their frag patterns when ambushing a route.