 Ukraine's armed forces begin to de-mine territory for upcoming counter-offensive. Ukrainian bomb disposal experts have begun to clear the front line territory before a possible counter-offensive. These operations have been going on for several weeks, writes the Washington Post with reference to the Ukrainian military. Like Russia, Ukraine has laid thousands of mines along its front line. And to advance into occupied territory, its troops now need to get through these lines without tipping off the Russians who would notice if heavy machinery were brought in or explosives were set off. This means sappers must go out to the fields and quietly remove the mines. They do it by hand at night. The commander of engineers of the First Tank Brigade with the called sign Klimat said this kind of mine clearing work has been going on for weeks but he declined to describe precise locations or methods used to deactivate the mines. According to him, once a path has been cleared, signs are set up, sometimes lighted with the beams facing away from Russian positions. Also, Ukrainian bomb disposal experts use specially modified vehicles based on the famous German Leopard 2 battle tank and Soviet-designed vehicles, the Meteorite UR-77. Western nations have also sent some modern engineering tanks, including Leopard 2R mine clearing tanks supplied by Finland that can plow through minefields. According to Ukrainian soldiers, Russia lays its mines in a pattern. One line of anti-tank mines, a line of anti-personnel lines alongside booby traps, and then another line of anti-tank mines. Drones can be used to spot the anti-tank mines, soldiers say, but anti-personnel mines are harder to find. In addition, it is noted that the offensive will be harder than the liberation of Ukrainian territories last fall because the Russians are learning from their mistakes and are also better prepared.