June 10, 2025: Due to heavy losses of tanka and other armored vehicles, Russia has been using troops on motorbikes instead. Armored vehicles are still used for larger operations but for scouting and patrol, the motorbikes are employed. Satellite photos show Russian motorbike operations using as few as six vehicles and at least once using over a hundred motorbikes. The large-scale use of the motorbikes ceased after one such attack was caught by Ukrainian artillery and many drones. At least seventy motorbikes were lost and over a hundred Russian troops killed or wounded.

Each bike usually carries two soldiers, one to operate the bike and the other to use his assault rifle or light machine-gun. Each group of six to ten bikes is equipped with electronic jammers for protection from Ukrainian drones. The Ukrainians have drones that can get past the jamming, but these are not used regularly and called in when needed.

The Russians have learned to use the motorbike units for scouting and quick raids into unoccupied territory to establish Russian control. The thousand kilometer front is often thinly manned because both sides suffered heavy losses during more than three years of war. Large areas of the front are patrolled by drones. Thus, a raiding party equipped with jammers and fast all-terrain vehicles can get in and out. Even these tactics are costly as the Ukrainians learned how to respond more quickly and destructively. As a result, Russia is buying any all-terrain vehicles/ATVs, they can get to keep their motorbike forces up to strength. That means three and four wheel all-terrain vehicles. These larger vehicles can carry more cargo and are essential when a raid intends to establish a long-term presence in new territory. These raids are more numerous and regain control of more territory.

These Russian operations are not the first time ATVs have been used in the war. Soon after Russia invaded in early 2022, Ukraine formed small mobile units of troops using TVs from a variety of manufacturers and usually armed with locally manufactured Anti-Tank Guided Missiles/ATGMs. Some were armed with heavy machine-guns or automatic grenade launchers. Some of the ATVs were carrying captured Russian ATGMs. These 21st-Century Cossacks were doing what the first Cossacks did 500 years ago, traveling light and using whatever weapons they could carry and use. The original Cossacks were most effective at raiding and restricting the movements and capabilities of a larger force. Cossacks would raid supply columns and force the enemy to use more troops for guard duty and larger reconnaissance patrols. Cossacks could weaken a larger force and reduce its offensive capabilities.

It’s not surprising that these modern Cossacks would emerge in Ukraine at the start of the current war. This sort of speedy improvisation by a largely recent volunteer force of civilians is one reason the Russians have been unsuccessful in conquering Ukraine. The Ukrainians know what they are fighting for while most of the Russian troops who initially invaded were unaware, they were in another country until hastily organized and armed Ukrainians began ambushing them with effective anti-tank weapons and superior tactics and communications. Russian troops are still unsure why they are invading Ukraine while the Ukrainians are defending themselves any way they can.

The American forces began using ATVs over twenty years ago. In the 2020s military ATVs completed the evolution from civilian sport vehicles to military vehicles. For example, in the 1990s there were the Polaris MRZR ATVs equipped with high performance diesel engines using military JP8 fuel. In 1990 the U.S. military adopted JP8 as its standard fuel and all new engines had to be built or adapted to use it. This was cheaper than building multi-fuel engines which could adapt to a wide variety of fuels.

Some exceptions were allowed, such as ATVs which Special Operations Command/SOCOM was able to acquire over a decade ago. SOCOM was always allowed to try new equipment to accomplish their missions. The MRZR vehicles were military versions of civilian ATVs Polaris began introducing in the 1980s. Those were often called dune buggies, because they were able to operate effectively on beaches and sand dunes. When these vehicles were first adopted by special operations troops in the 1980s and 90s, they were heavier than later ATVs and less mobile than the later Polaris ATVs but became enormously popular with civilian and military users because they were designed for use in the most remote and undeveloped areas with no roads no roads. While this had obvious appeal for SOCOM, there were many civilians that worked in areas where there were few roads, including construction sites in remote areas and staff in large rural parks. Active duty and reserve military are often called on to assist during natural disasters, as well as operate in combat zones that lack roads or even trails. Noting SOCOMs’ success with ATVs, these troops and their commanders began requesting ATVs when surveyed about equipment that would increase mobility in combat zones. Hummer vehicles, adopted in the 1980s to replace the military jeep and light truck, were more mobile but could not match ATVs in the worst terrain. Once SOCOM got their JP8 ATVs, the rest of the military could easily get them as well.