Russia's planting of land mines shows its troops know they've been defeated and don't plan another big attempt on Kyiv

According to a report from Human Rights Watch, Russian forces are using banned anti-personnel mines to cover their retreat.

According to an expert from the Institute for the Study of War, Russia's use of these mines shows they know they have been defeated in the region and don't plan another assault on Kyiv.

Frederick Kagan, a military scholar from the Institute for the Study of War, said that laying mines all over the place suggests that you don't think you're going to be back there any time soon.

Ukrainian troops had already defeated the Russian offensive on Kyiv, and began their own counter-offensive to push Russian troops back. After having to concede to defeat in Kyiv, Russia decided to pull troops out of the capital.

According to a report from Human Rights Watch, Ukrainian bomb disposal teams located anti-personnel mines in the eastern region of Kharkiv on Monday. According to Human Rights Watch, the POM-3 mines can hurt people up to 50 feet away. The mines are not used by the Ukrainian military and have been rigged to self-destruct if not activated over a period of time.

The US and Russia did not agree to the 1997 international Mine Ban Treaty. The treaty was signed in 1999 and the country became a state party in 2005. They have used defensive mines.

Pavlo Bagmut/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Insider photos show that the Russians are placing mines rather than digging in and laying them.

They are laying mines to delay the Ukrainian offensive so they can pull their troops out.