[WATCH] Russian Dirt Bikes – No Match for Ukrainian Kamikaze Drones

A video from Ukraine’s 5th Separate Assault Brigade on Monday shows Ukrainian drones flying straight at Russian troops attempting to break through Ukrainian defenses on dirt bikes near Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

In the video, published by the brigade’s press service on Telegram, Ukrainian reconnaissance drones are seen to have spotted four motorcycles manned by Russian troops advancing on their positions.

As the four bikes approach a three-way junction, multiple explosions – presumably from cluster artillery munitions – are seen landing around the bikes without hitting them. Further explosions around the junction soon follow, also without hitting the bikes, and the Russian troops, after slowing down temporarily, press on.

The video then soon cuts to another brief clip showing a first-person view (FPV) drone flying straight at a soldier on a motorcycle – probably from the same group seen earlier, followed by more clips of Russian troops running on foot with their motorcycles abandoned in the background.

The soldiers are then picked off one by one by FPV drones as they run across barren fields. A clip taken from a drone’s point-of-view sees it zooming in on a fleeing soldier before the image turns to static as it detonates. 

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The video features more than four further explosions, likely aimed at Russian troop reinforcements, according to the military news outlet Militarnyi.

In one instance, a Russian soldier can be seen kneeling on the ground, his clothes on fire, as he attempts to stand up after being targeted.

In the last clip featured in the video, a drone can be seen tailing one of the Russian soldiers on his bike before another drone approaches from the left, sending the soldier – or whatever was left of him and his equipment – into the bushes to his right.

Moscow’s use of motorcycles

Russian troops commonly use on the front line likely hoping that to their smaller footprint, compared with armored vehicles, will help avoid detection while allowing them to advance faster that on foot.

In April 2024, Russian troops were seen advancing on Chinese-made motorcycles and golf carts.

But unless supported with adequate suppressive fire, troops carrying out assaults in this way are often sent to their doom, as noted in a July 2024 analysis on Russian assaults near Vuhledar. 

Russian troops have also been seen to make improvised modifications to their motorcycles to try to maximize their chances of survival against drones.

In one instance reported in July 2024, some were seen fitting their bikes with Russian UDSh training mines as improvised smoke canisters to help conceal their location. The mines discharge smoke for eight to 10 minutes once activated.

In other instances, Russian troops were seen equipping their light vehicles – including motorcycles – with rusty anti-drone “cope cages” during assaults on Kharkiv and Avdiivka in mid-2024, the effectiveness of which remained questionable.