Russian conscripts called up for military service wait to board a train at a railway station in Omsk on November 27, 2022.
REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
Russian troops are using quad bikes in their assaults in Ukraine, according to CNN.Drone footage from the front lines shows quad bikes in use, and some on fire.Ukrainian troops say there are typically three to four Russian soldiers per bike.
Russian troops are using quad bikes to attack Ukrainian positions, according to imagery and soldier testimony.
Ukrainian soldiers on the front line near the village of Robotyne told CNN that Russian troops are using the four-wheeled vehicles to attack Ukrainian positions at night, typically with three or four soldiers on each bike.
Kokos, a drone pilot in Ukraine’s 15th National Guard unit, told CNN the quad bikes were “more maneuverable than tracked vehicles. It’s hard for artillery to hit them, so we have to use drones.”
CNN witnessed drone footage of a quad bike traveling down a dirt track and then swerving when a grenade from a Ukrainian drone hit it.
Soldiers then appeared to stagger away from the bike, with one rolling away, CNN reported.
Separate footage showed the remains of quad bikes on fire, according to CNN.
This isn’t the first report of quad bikes in use in the war. A Ukrainian special forces commander said in 2022 that his soldiers used quad bikes to approach Russian forces under the cover of night and then ambush them.
But CNN described these latest Russian efforts as “almost suicidal tactics” by a military that is “unafraid to sacrifice personnel in the pursuit of an unclear goal.”
Russia has been accused by Ukraine, Western intelligence, and captured Russian soldiers of using “meat wave” tactics that sacrifice soldiers in an attempt to push forward.
The southeastern village of Robotyne, where these latest incidents occurred, was captured by Russia earlier in its invasion, but retaken by Ukraine in September 2023. It was one of the biggest successes of Ukraine’s counteroffensive effort that started last summer.
But Russian forces are now attacking the town.
Ukraine said last week that it repelled multiple attacks over several days. Ukraine’s commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, reported fierce fighting near the village on Thursday, saying Russia is trying to take control there.
Anthey, a soldier in Ukraine’s 65th Mechanised Brigade, told CNN that Ukrainian troops were suffering from a lack of ammunition as funding from the US remains stalled.
He said the lack of ammunition was “forcing them to underperform.”
His commander told CNN that the unit previously fired around 80 rounds a day, but now only fires about 10.
This echoes complaints by other Ukrainian soldiers, who say they have to ration ammunition and not go after targets in their sights.
The White House said earlier this month that Ukraine pulled out of the eastern town of Avdiivka — giving Russia its biggest prize in months — because “Ukrainian soldiers had to ration ammunition due to dwindling supplies as a result of congressional inaction.”