A viral video shared by the Ukrainian army showed visuals from one of the country’s drones tracking Russian soldiers moving on horseback in the eastern Donetsk region.
In the video, the Russian soldier rides on a horse on open terrain, and the drone tracks his movements.
The drone then closes in and launches an attack. Another soldier is seen at the back. The blast from the drone sends up a cloud, and the soldier is knocked off the horse.
The animal runs away, leaving the soldier behind.
The video was shared by Ukraine’s 5th Assault Battalion of the 92nd Infantry Brigade originally on Telegram. Defense of Ukraine shared the video saying, “An enemy assault on horses. This incident was recorded by our drone operators. And the occupiers were destroyed.”
Mykola Melnyk, a former officer with Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade who spoke to Forbes, said, “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.”
According to the commentary shared with the video, Russian forces are losing military equipment so rapidly during repeated assaults that they are increasingly using unconventional methods of movement instead of mechanized transport. According to the brigade, even motorcycles are proving unreliable in the deep mud and are increasingly vulnerable to drones.
Experts say that Mechanized warfare has become difficult to conceal and harder to sustain with the large-scale drone attacks by Ukraine.
The low-tech alternatives are an attempt to reduce the detectable signature. Donkeys, Horses, and camels have been previously used to transport supplies.
VIDEO | Ukrainian drone strikes Russian soldier riding on horseback in Donetsk
