As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags into its third year, Moscow’s troops have turned to desperate measures on the frontlines. A bizarre and tragic new tactic dubbed the “biker assault” has emerged. With heavy losses and a crippling shortage of tanks and armoured vehicles, Russian forward units are now using motorcycles, quad bikes, and buggies to launch infantry assaults—an approach that has quickly and decisively failed under Ukrainian firepower.
These high-risk, low-survivability tactics appear to be driven by necessity rather than strategy. With the Russian military unable to replenish its armour stock after losing thousands of vehicles to Western-supplied Ukrainian anti-tank weapons, drones, and artillery, commanders are deploying light vehicles in an attempt to reduce casualties by speeding through the “kill zone”—the exposed area between Russian and Ukrainian positions where most of the defenders’ fire is concentrated.
The Kremlin’s theory is that quick and nimble movement increases survival chances and overwhelms Ukrainian defenders by increasing the number of fast-moving targets. However, reality tells a different story.
A recent example near Toretsk saw Russian troops mount a so-called May 9 assault using motorcycles decked with flags. The attack ended in disaster. Ukraine’s elite 12th Azov Special Operations Brigade, alongside the 49th Carpathian Sitch Assault Battalion, quickly repelled the assault. Dozens of Russian troops were killed or wounded, their vehicles reduced to smouldering wrecks.
Despite the high fatality rate of these “meat assaults,” Russian troops continue to ride into battle with little protection. The lack of armour means even a single bullet or drone fragment is often lethal. These tactics, far from a sign of battlefield innovation, highlight the deep logistical rot festering within the Russian war machine.
Once known for columns of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, Russia’s forces have now become a patchwork of makeshift units riding off-road vehicles into minefields and muddy trenches. What began as a mechanised army now resembles a ragtag militia resorting to civilian-style motorsport equipment under the illusion of mobility.
Ukrainian troops have not only adapted quickly to this tactic but have also exploited its weaknesses. Military observers note that Ukrainian drone operators have become especially proficient at spotting and neutralising these lightly equipped units before they can even approach defensive lines.
Meanwhile, tragedy continues to mount away from the battlefield. On 14 May, a Russian artillery strike destroyed an animal shelter in Kherson, killing and injuring dozens of animals. The shelter’s owner, Oksana Petrusenko, described the horror of arriving to find animals crushed under rubble or traumatised. Four survivors—three cats and a dog—had to be transported 200 kilometres to Odesa due to the lack of veterinary facilities left in the city. Volunteers and locals are scrambling to help.
Elsewhere, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the EU will exhaust all options to sanction the Russian dictatorship over its refusal to engage in real ceasefire talks. Further banking, energy, and asset sanctions are now under consideration.
In a chilling echo of Soviet-era propaganda, a bas-relief of Joseph Stalin has been unveiled in the Moscow Metro, glorifying a dictator responsible for the death by famine of more than seven million Ukrainians in the 1932 to 1933 Holodomor.
On the diplomatic front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Turkey open to genuine peace discussions, while the Russian dictator sent only a powerless delegation—a gesture seen widely as a stalling tactic rather than sincere diplomacy.
The majority of the estimated 600,000 Russian soldiers occupying Ukraine reportedly rely on US-made Starlink satellite internet and even use the social app Discord for combat coordination.
