Marta Gichko09:21, 06/27/24
All Russian brigades can form their own motorized platoons and entrust them with “delivery of necessary cargo and evacuation of the wounded.”
With stocks of armored vehicles running low, the Russian army is increasingly sending occupiers into battle on cheap motorcycles.
As Forbes writes , the more Russian soldiers ride into battle on bikes, “the more Russian soldiers die or are injured while riding into battle on bikes.”
Analyst Andrew Perpetua confirmed the destruction – mostly by Ukrainian drones – of five Russian combat motorcycles in February, one in March, 13 in April, 56 in May and nine in the first week of June alone. Dozens more motorcycles were damaged.
“This is a truly ridiculous number of casualties that Russians have suffered in motorcycle attacks,” Perpetua wrote.
Despite significant losses, the Russian army is doubling down on the assault motorcycle concept. The 5th motorized rifle brigade of the Russian army, which is fighting around Krasnogorovka, has formed a special motorcycle platoon. It is additional, Russian correspondent Alexander Sladkov emphasized.
“This is in addition to combat motorcyclists in the battalions,” Sladkov said.
According to the so-called Russian “war correspondent”, brigades can form their own motorized platoons and entrust them with “delivering necessary cargo and evacuating the wounded.”
But they will likely also play a direct combat role. Increasingly, Russian commanders, short of equipment, are sending their motorcycle troops to direct assaults on Ukrainian positions.
During one of the last Russian operations somewhere in southern Ukraine, the first wave of attackers rode in tanks and armored fighting vehicles. When that wave hit a wall of Ukrainian artillery and drones, the Russians sent a second wave – on foot and on bikes. The results were catastrophic for the Russians.
“Sometimes even six artillery units fired at their positions at the same time,” recalls the operator of a Ukrainian drone with the call sign “Kriegsforscher.”
In recent weeks, at least four Ukrainian brigades – the 28th, 30th and 54th Mechanized Brigades and the 79th Air Assault Brigade – have attacked Russian motorized troops with explosive drones and grenade-dropping bombers. The improvised armor that some Russian units weld onto their motorcycles doesn’t help much.
There was speculation this spring that Russia’s new tactics on bicycles could actually help the Kremlin’s war effort by making individual soldiers faster and less visible from the air.
In practice, motorcycle troops are hopelessly vulnerable to artillery and drones – and are dying in ever-increasing numbers. But with too few armored vehicles, the Russians don’t have many alternatives.
“If the occupying unit is not lucky enough to have access to sufficiently modern infantry fighting vehicles, then it will have to make do with 50-year-old armored MT-LB tractors, Chinese golf carts or motorbikes. The only other option is to go into battle. But this is even more dangerous than driving on a motorcycle,” he said.
(C)UNIAN 2024