Russia increasingly uses ATVs at the front, but sacrifices protection

The Russian military is increasingly using lightweight and fast vehicles such as ATVs and motorcycles to move personnel, conduct reconnaissance and assault.

Here's What We Know

By favouring lighter vehicles, the Russians are sacrificing the protection offered by armoured vehicles, for example. Consequently, the Ukrainian military has started to hit the enemy more often.

Over the past few months, Russia has "very likely" increased its use of light vehicles as a way to move troops to the front line and launch night attacks on Ukrainian positions, the UK Ministry of Defence wrote in an intelligence update on Monday.

As a reminder, the Ukrainian Armed Forces used ATVs back in April 2022 to ambush Russian convoys. But in February 2024, the situation changed, and now the Russians have started using them to be more manoeuvrable.

According to intelligence, Russia has purchased thousands of Chinese Desertcross 1000-3 ATVs. In addition, these vehicles have been equipped with anti-drone defences, including FPV.

Source: Business Insider