Russia’s use of land mines was among the discussions at an event on Tuesday on Capitol Hill for the United Nations’ international mine awareness day, which brought together groups that focus on the issue and lawmakers from Congress’s Unexploded Ordnance/Demining Caucus.

“Wars end, they stay,” Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said of land mines and unexploded munitions. “The targets are invariably civilians, and they are in places where you have a limited ability to provide lifesaving medical care.”

“Look at what’s happening in Ukraine — Russia is placing land mines in people’s homes, as well as children’s playgrounds and places where people go,” Mr. Leahy said. “That’s using it as a weapon of terror.”