Denys Monastyrsky, Ukraine’s minister for internal affairs, stated that Russians were defecting with military equipment and tanks after realising they were being used as “cannon fodder.” Ukraine’s armed forces claimed on Tuesday that 300 Russian troops “refused to comply with orders to carry out combat” and left an area of intense fighting in Sumy. According to the Centre for Defence Strategies, a leading Ukrainian think tank, “Russian forces are aware of their situation’s hopelessness and are increasingly choosing desertion to avoid death.”

Hundreds of Russian soldiers are reportedly refusing to fight and defecting to the Ukrainian side, dealing another blow to Vladimir Putin.

Denys Monastyrsky, Ukraine’s minister for internal affairs, stated that Russians were defecting with military equipment and tanks after realising they were being used as “cannon fodder.”

Ukraine’s armed forces claimed on Tuesday that 300 Russian troops “refused to comply with orders to carry out combat” and left an area of intense fighting in Sumy.

According to the Centre for Defence Strategies, a leading Ukrainian think tank, “Russian forces are aware of their situation’s hopelessness and are increasingly choosing desertion to avoid death.”