Putin’s Horse Cavalry Wiped Out in Ukraine

“The tactic involves two men riding on a single horse: one steers and the other provides fire cover. Upon arrival at the assault site, both fighters dismount and take the next enemy stronghold.”— Russian “Storm” special forces commander, to Kommersant newspaper, October 2025.

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In late December 2025, Ukrainian troops from the 5th Assault Battalion of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, stationed south of Pokrovsk, reported detecting a group of Russian soldiers advancing toward their positions on horseback, but the Ukrainians were ready for them, with armed drones in the air. “This was actually the first time we’d seen this,” Anatolii Tkachenko, a Ukrainian mortar battery commander, noted. The brigade spokesman reported that, “The finale is quite predictable: the enemy’s so-called cavalry is destroyed by the precise strikes of our drones. Thanks to the professionalism of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade’s drone operator, not a single horse was injured.”

The Russian Federation was first reported to be training soldiers on horseback in October 2025. Semyon Pegov, a pro-war Russian blogger, described how a commander identified only as “Khan” had begun using horses during combat missions: “Horses see well at night, don’t need roads to accelerate on the final approach, and their instincts can, reportedly, help them avoid mines. I am sure we will soon witness the historic return of the Russian cavalry to the ranks. Let’s wish Khan and his modern ‘horde’ luck, with the expectation of some epic footage from the front.”

In addition to horses, Putin’s troops have been using donkeys to transport ammunition between their lines. Viktor Sobolev, a retired general who is now a member of the Russian parliament’s defense committee, added that, “It’s better for a donkey to be killed, than two people transporting supplies in a vehicle.”

It’s known that at least two Russian army units officially have pack animals in their possession: the 55th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District, using Mongolian horses, and the 34th Separate Motorized Rifle Mountain Brigade of the Southern Military District, using Karachay (a Russian ethnic group of the North Caucasus/North Ossetia region) horses.

Apparently, Russian forces have complained about the high level of Ukrainian drone activity at the front lines, creating a buffer zone where no transport vehicles can safely pass. Their ability to conduct large-scale, mechanized assaults has been severely weakened by the staggering number of vehicles destroyed over months of fighting.

Mykola Melnyk, a former officer with Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, noted that, “Out in the fields right now, the mud is so bad that nobody can get through. You’ll spend an hour walking one kilometer, because your legs sink completely.”

In addition, the commander of the “Storm” unit of Russia’s 9th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 51st Army, in the vital Donetsk region, has been training horse-mounted assault teams since October 2025, with televised footage showing two soldiers mounted on one horse, with one riding, and the other preparing to launch an attack. There are remote-controlled drones flying above them across the field.

Russian forces have previously used tactical motorcycle/dirt-bike squads to evade the growing number of Ukrainian drone attacks, especially since late 2024, but most of the riders were killed by Ukrainian troops while zigzagging across open ground before reaching their objectives.

Ukraine Today very recently reported that, “A stark indication of Russian struggles has emerged in recent footage from Russian soldiers filming themselves moving to the frontline on horseback. They are seen carrying their full combat equipment, including armor vests and shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapons…it highlights the growing desperation, as the use of such improvised cavalry in modern warfare is an unmistakable sign that conventional Russian logistics have entirely broken down. Russian troops are being pushed into increasingly outdated and desperate tactics.”

Olga Tokariuk, an Academy associate at Chatham House (international affairs think tank, based in London)  explained that, “There is no clear line of contact. Instead, drones from each side constantly swarm across a 10-to-15-kilometer-wide area (six to nine miles) called the ‘kill zone.’”