Ukraine Destroys Rare Russian Zemledeliye Remote Mining System in Donetsk Region

Ukrainian defense forces have destroyed a Russian Zemledeliye remote mining system near the occupied city of Horlivka in the Donetsk region, according to Militarnyi on November 18. 

Militarnyi reported that the rare engineering reconnaissance and fire complex was eliminated near the settlement of Panteleymonivka, south of Horlivka, in temporarily occupied territory.

The outlet cited imagery from the Telegram channel “War in Ukraine. Equipment losses,” which identified the wrecked vehicle as a Zemledelie system and geolocated it.

Zemledeliye is a Russian engineering system for remote minelaying (ISDM) designed to rapidly deploy minefields at range rather than by hand-placing mines. It utilizes 122 mm solid-fuel rockets to scatter mines over a target area, ranging from 5 to 15 km, and can form complex minefield layouts, including patterns with safe “corridors” for friendly troops.

The mines carried in the rockets are programmable, with options for self-destruction or automatic deactivation to limit the creation of permanent minefields. The vehicle is equipped with satellite navigation, an onboard computer, and a weather station, enabling trajectory correction, precise mine placement, and automated mapping of the mined zone.

Open-source analysts have previously noted that only a small number of these systems are believed to be in Russian service, making each confirmed loss significant for Moscow’s engineering capabilities.

Earlier, it was reported that Ukrainian Special Operations Forces used FPV drones to locate and destroy a rare Russian ISDM “Zemledelie” remote mine-laying system near the front line, demonstrating how Ukraine targets high-value engineering assets with precision strikes.

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