Russia has got so desperate it has had to go back to one of the most old-fashioned ways to carry bullets and guns during a war.
The Soviet army had to start using donkeys and horses to carry ammunition in Ukraine – something that hasn’t been done for over a century.
Military blogger Kirill Fedorov wrote on his Telegram channel that Putin and his soldiers have started to send the animals to the front line.
He said that an official government transport list says these animals include horses, camels and deer.
He wrote: ‘The fighters were given a donkey to deliver ammunition to the front line. What did you expect? Cars are in short supply these day.’
Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko also shared a social media video showing Russian soldiers riding donkeys.
A soldier’s candid video commentary reveals the bizarre move and said: ‘I heard it, then saw it, and was f****** stunned. Just accept it as reality. Don’t ask where, why, who, or how. F*** knows.
‘But the fact is, we’ve been given a donkey. We’re really struggling with transportation, right?’
Russian vehicle losses have exceeded 15,000 and stocks of vehicles ran low at the end of last year.
Industrial managers have also been blamed, according to Russian war corespondent Roma Sapozhnikov.
He wrote: ‘The feeling is that those who are responsible for rearming the army with [armored fighting vehicles] and tanks … froze and abstracted themselves from the problems of the front and the armed forces of the warring country.’
Gerashchenko added that Russia is ‘rolling back to the times of the Russian Empire.’
While there is evidence of animals being used on Ukraine’s front line, others have said that this could be a local initiative, rather than a nationwide strategy.
A military expert told Novaya Gazeta Europe: ‘A donkey or a horse will be able to overcome the impassable roads in muddy conditions and deliver, for example, food or ammunition to a stronghold located in a forest plantation far from the roads.’
The expert added they may use the animals to navigate difficult terrain in certain areas.
Animals like horses, donkeys and camels are better suited for muddy fieldsand terrain where vehicles would get stuck.
It is no secret that Russia has been struggling on Ukraine’s front line in recent times.
In October 2024, footage emerged of hundreds of North Korean troops preparing to go to Russia.
An expert previously told Metro that the development, while worrying, is not surprising.
He explained North Korean troops joining Russia’s efforts in Ukraine is a ‘natural progression.’
In February, a Western official said Russia was struggling to provide enough ammunition and weapons in its war with Ukraine.
Also in recent months, multiple Russian arms depots storing munitions for the war in Ukraine were destroyed in kamikaze drone strikes – further lowering Putin’s stockpiles.
Ukrainian invasions into Kursk Oblast in Russian territory could have ‘inadvertently’ dragged North Korea into the war, the Institute for the Study of War said.
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