I don't remember my specifications for Soviet scatterable mines, but US FASCAM has a short shelf life. In a fast-moving war, most standard mines are surface-laid and covered by fire to prevent the enemy's vehicles from getting through by driving carefully. The goal with FASCAM and surface-laid mines is canalization, not blocking. It's a fine distinction, but as a result the mines used in highly mobile warfare either commit suicide or are fairly easily handled once the frnt moves away.
In Twilight: 2000 terms, though, we would have seen fantastic stretches of territory invested with complex minefields with mostly buried mines. The Pact would have put tens of millions or hundred of millions into the ground in western Poland. Other nations at war would have done the same in their respective areas. Once the war slowed down in late 1997, buried mines would have gone in around every base camp.
Still, I'd be less concerned about the mines putting large areas off-limits than the rads and chemicals. If it came down to it, I'd put chemicals at the top of the list. During the run-up to nuclear use, I'd expect to see chemical warfare running at full tilt (though obviously there would be pattterns that can be discussed at another time). The use of persistent agents for counter-mobility purposes would leave large areas of Poland, Germany, Austria, the former Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey, and other locations badly contaminated. Chemicals washing into the rivers would end up in the Baltic, the North Sea, the Aegean, the Black Sea, etc. Lethal concentrations might persist for years anywhere the rain didn't wash the chemicals away. Mines tend not to migrate, but chemicals go where they please. In a water-rich environment like Europe... yikes.
Webstral
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