Pro-Russian forces appear to use motorcycles to outwit drones and attack Ukrainian positions

• Pro-Russian separatist soldiers appear to have attacked Ukrainian positions on motorcycles.

• A Russian-backed battalion from the breakaway Luhansk People’s Republic posted the video.

• Russian forces have had to explore increasingly inventive ways to outwit Ukrainian drone attacks.

Pro-Russian soldiers with a separatist militia have released images on social media showing them attacking Ukrainian positions on fast motorcycles.

The maneuver appears to have been carried out by Zarya Battalion militias in the Luhansk region. It highlights the Russian Armed Forces’ adaptation to the ongoing challenges and threats posed by Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) attack drones.

In the video, several troops are seen riding motorcycles over rough terrain. According to the post, the Russian attack was successful.

Business Insider could not independently verify the location or time of the footage.

Using motorcycles, which do not provide protection for the riders, can be very risky. In an incident late last year, motorcycle-riding Russian air defense forces in Krynky in Ukraine’s Kherson region were chased and killed (the video of the strike contains graphic images) by an explosive-laden Ukrainian first-person-view drone.

However, pro-Kremlin Russian military reporter Alexander Sladkov wrote on Telegram that this latest motorcycle show would make the bicycle “the most popular means of transportation” for Russia’s frontline forces in the coming months.

More broadly, this video follows a broader effort by Russian forces to counter the increased use of drones by Ukrainian soldiers, increasing speed and movement to make it harder for Ukrainian drones to target them, according to online defense magazine Army Recognition.

Now in the third year of the massive Russian invasion, FPV drones are ubiquitous on the battlefield. Many of these drones can carry several kilos of explosives.

Russian forces have had to find increasingly inventive ways to avoid attacks while simultaneously launching attacks on Ukrainian positions.

In March, videos shared on social media appeared to show Russia using open golf carts near the front lines in Ukraine.

One video appeared to show a Russian armored column, including various Desertcross 1000-3 all-terrain vehicles, attacking Ukrainian positions in Donetsk Oblast, Forbes reported.

The vehicles were used to transport infantry to the front lines, Forbes said, and the video shows them being hit by grenades and explosives dropped by drones.

The video ends with images of the open vehicles lying destroyed in the mud.

Previously, Russian forces were seen using quads to attack Ukrainian positions, reports said.

Ukrainian soldiers on the front line near the village of Robotyne told CNN that Russian forces used the four-wheeled vehicles to attack Ukrainian positions at night, typically with three or four soldiers on each bicycle.

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