Russia’s crumbling military capability has taken a bizarre new turn, as its troops have been spotted using a yellow school bus for combat operations in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. This strange sight comes amid mounting evidence that the Russian military, battered by sanctions and battlefield losses, is being forced to use civilian vehicles including golf carts, scooters, motorcycles, and old Soviet-era vans to move troops to the front lines.
The bright yellow school bus, more associated with childhood than combat, was spotted by a Ukrainian drone near the front line. Footage revealed the vehicle stuck in soft spring ground before a Ukrainian kamikaze drone precisely struck it and set it ablaze. The absurd scene highlights the Russian army’s deepening reliance on improvised transport, as the country’s stock of armoured vehicles continues to shrink.
Military analyst Jakub Janowski noted that while civilian vehicles are “better than walking”, they offer no real protection or firepower and cannot navigate trenches or other battlefield defences. These makeshift methods of transport, he added, are more costly in the long run and far more likely to fail.
According to open-source data cited by Forbes, Russia has lost over 17,000 units of heavy equipment and vehicles in just over three years of full-scale war. This staggering figure exceeds the combined strength of many national militaries and is more than Russia’s heavily sanctioned defence industry can produce in a similar timeframe. With an estimated output of around 1,100 new tanks and infantry fighting vehicles per year, Moscow has been forced to pull ageing machinery from Cold War-era depots—many of which are nearly depleted.
What makes the recent bus incident even more humiliating for the Kremlin is the lack of any noticeable armour on the vehicle. Previous groups such as Islamic State and the Kurdish Peshmerga, who also used buses for warfare, typically reinforced them with metal plating. In contrast, Russia’s use of an unprotected school bus appears rushed and careless, pointing to a lack of preparation or available resources.
Russia’s improvisation with outdated and vulnerable vehicles underscores the severe logistical and material shortcomings plaguing its invasion effort.
