@r2reports: Ukrainian soldiers are taking a jackhammer to an American naval mine designed during World War II—and recovering about 1,200 pounds of explosives for drone weapons. Footage circulating online shows troops opening what defense researchers identified as a U.S. Mk 25 mine. American aircraft once dropped these weapons into Japanese shipping routes and harbor entrances. Ukraine hadn’t publicly announced receiving them. Ukraine says it’s short of explosives for its drones. Troops already salvage the filling from old artillery shells and unexploded Russian bombs to supply their warheads. The American stockpile has a remarkable paper trail. A 1996 U.S. audit found 5,382 Mk 25 mines listed in Army storage records but missing from the Navy’s inventory database. About 40 percent had an unknown condition. Some were manufactured in 1954. How many reached Ukraine, and who supplied them, remains publicly unconfirmed. #Ukraine #UkraineWar #DroneWarfare #WWII #geopolitics