According to Illia Ponomarenko, a defence writer for the Kyiv Independent, volunteers believed to be former Russian military are being taught to use NLAWS – weapons designed to blow up tanks – by Ukrainians. According to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky, hundreds of Russian servicemen defected to the Ukrainian side with tanks and military equipment after realising they were being exploited as “cannon fodder.” This comes amid reports that Russian soldiers were forced to evacuate to Belarus due to massive casualties.