Picture this: Tanks rolling through a field, dodging mines left and right like they’re playing a game of Minesweeper. It’s like a scene from a video game, but this is real life, folks! And apparently, it’s not going so well for the Russians.

You see, the Russians keep sending their tanks into minefields, and it’s not going great for them. They’ve even had to dismiss a commander because of it. I mean, come on, guys, we’ve all played Minesweeper before. Don’t step on the mines!

Now, you might think that a minefield would be impenetrable for tanks, but apparently not. The tanks might get damaged or immobilized, but they usually don’t get destroyed. So, in theory, the tanks could just push through the mines and capture the territory. But here’s the catch: Ukraine has laid a crap-ton of mines close together. Like, seriously, it’s a minefield. And Russia’s de-mining efforts have been… ineffective, to put it nicely.

So what kind of mines are we talking about here? The most common anti-tank mine in Ukraine is the Soviet-era TM-62, and both sides are using it. It’s a disc of explosive that weighs around 7.5kg and has a pressure fuse that’s triggered by a tank tread driving over it. Some of these mines even have magnetic fuses, just to make things extra tricky.

But wait, there’s more! America has also supplied Ukraine with 155mm howitzer rounds that scatter nine 2.3kg magnetically activated mines. Because why not?

Now, you might think that tank crews have some fancy gadgets to help them navigate through these minefields safely. And you’d be right… to a certain extent. They have rollers that are pushed ahead of the vehicle to set off mines, but they don’t always trust them. There’s even a video of a Russian tank being blown up when its KMT fails to detonate a mine. Yikes.

So what about those specialist engineer units? They have BMR-3MS mine ploughs or UR-77 Meteorits that launch explosive cables to blast a clear path through the minefield. Sounds pretty cool, right? Except for when tank drivers panic under enemy fire and drive out of the lane. Or when the lead vehicle in a column gets knocked out and blocks the path. Oops.

Long story short, Russia’s inability to figure out minefields has seriously hampered their offensives. And now Ukraine is gearing up to show them how it’s done. They’ve got promises of Western mine-clearing equipment, and they’re planning their own counter-offensive. It’s like a game of Minesweeper, but with real tanks and real explosives. What could possibly go wrong?