Desperate tactics of Russian soldiers on the battlefield. How did they get to replace tanks with motorcycles

In despair, after losing equipment due to drones, Russian forces replaced motorcycles with tanks in their attacks on Ukrainian positions, reports Business Insider.

Russian soldiers on motorcycles began to appear on the profimia photo battlefield

Before the armies used tanks, they resorted to motorcycles. In 1916, American troops on motorcycles hunted the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa (which in turn used motorized motorcycles in its raids). In World War II, couriers were crossing the front wearing messages, while German recognition units used three -wheeled motorcycles with machine guns. Currently, US special forces use motorcycles, including some commercial models.

Motorcycles are fast and agile, but they seem a bad idea from the point of view of safety and ability to effectively pierce defensive lines.

However, Russian troops in Ukraine choose motorcycles instead of armored vehicles, tanks remaining in the back to provide fire support, rather than serve in an avant-garde role. The tactic was born of despair rather than from the impulse to innovate.

“The increased use of motorcycles by Russia is a way of adapting, in response to the ubiquitous attacks of Ukrainian drones against Russian armored vehicles and unsustainable losses of armored vehicles that the Russian forces suffered at the end of 2023 and 2024,” It is shown in a report by the researchers at the Institute for War Study (ISW).

Even Ukraine – which has repeatedly faced suicidal attacks from Russian infantry – seemed amazed by these attacks on motorcycle. The idea “sounds funny,” said a spokesman for the Ukrainian army.

However, Russian troops believe that motorcycles are fast enough to storm Ukrainian positions, enough to infiltrate into land inaccessible to tanks and sufficiently agile to avoid drones that were responsible for destroying 10,000 Russian armored vehicles.

“These attacks are wide: from a dozen to one hundred motorcycles,” said the Ukrainian spokesman. “They believe that in this way they can cross the ground quickly and reach Ukrainian positions – even faster than a drone moves to reach the last. And if it does not happen, then a motorcycle is spent on a drone.”

ISW analysts cites more reports on the creative use of motorcycles on the battlefield. A Ukrainian soldier who fights near the city of Pokrovsk said: “Russian motorcyclists are currently attacking eight -support columns with support from the Electronic War (EW), and the Russian military transport EW systems, the center and the end of the columns to protect the motorcycles from the Ukrainian drones.” Electronic war systems can confuse nearby drones or they can bury their frequencies.

Another soldier said: “Each Russian motorcycle has two passengers – a driver and a machine gun – making sure that Russian forces continue to attack on the motorcycle if Ukrainian drone operators only kill a passenger. “

It is possible for Russia to now use troops on motorcycles for quick response intervention tactics or as a quick way to conquer the Ukrainian territory in frontal attacks. “Russian forces probably perceive a tactical opportunity in the use of motorcycles and civil vehicles to advance and conquer as much Ukrainian territory before a possible armistice or peace negotiations.”the ISW analysts wrote.

A new tactic in the modern war?

One of which is noted that ISW appreciates that the new tactics did not come from the high Russian command, but were improvised by desperate bands from the first line, which suffered terrible losses following drone attacks. “The use of Russian motorcycles seems to have started as a tactical response locally to Ukrainian operations with drones, in a way comparable to the way Russia has created its own informal units of the first line ”ISW wrote. Some observers have even discovered videos in which Russian soldiers moved with electric scooters.

Now, the Russian Ministry of Defense is trying to formalize motorcycle operations. This includes the establishment of training centers for motorcyclists in Russia, as well as the integration of motorcycle units into regular Russian fighting formations.

It could be a more effective way to spread the concept in all units in Ukraine, as well as any future wars. But it could also stifle innovation in an army affected by rigidity. “The Russian Ministry of Defense could be able to better supply Russian motorcycle units within a more centralized system, but the Ministry of Defense could also significantly limit the ability of Russian motorcyclists to adapt to the new realities of the front.”notes ISW.

It remains to be seen whether motorcycles will become a feature of the modern war. If drones and missiles continue to turn tanks into deadly traps, then a small, agile motorcycle may offer a greater chance of survival. On the other hand, these motorcycles do not benefit from armor.