Ukraine has unveiled a minefield breakthrough that neutralized Russia’s summer offensive before it began. Facing motorcycle-mounted Russian troops bypassing traditional anti-tank mines, Ukrainian engineers rewired their defenses with trip-wire triggers and mixed anti-personnel solutions. The new strategy was deployed during assaults near Druzhba and Dylivka, with modified mines eliminating dozens of bikes. Russian losses now exceed 10,700 tanks, 22,500 armored vehicles, and nearly 960,000 soldiers dead, wounded, or captured.
The breakthrough followed reports from April 27 citing Russia’s tactical shift toward motorcycle warfare, supported by official Defense Ministry training footage. While the vehicles were intended to outmaneuver drones and mines, Ukraine’s quick adaptation flipped the script. Verified imagery shows Russian motorcycles destroyed en masse, confirming Ukraine’s frontline advantage heading into summer.
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SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/9JSVn7RU
Ukraine has a problem.
Over the last few weeks, it’s become clear that Russian President
Vladimir Putin has started increasingly relying on motorcycle-mounted troops to conduct assaults
against Ukraine. Those troops are fast. They’re mobile. And most worryingly for Ukraine, they’re
lightweight. Russians on motorcycles aren’t triggering the carefully laid anti-tank mines
Ukraine has laid to slow down Russia’s attacks. So, what has Ukraine done?
What it’s done for over three years of fighting against Russia – innovate. Ukrainian
sappers are now using an insane new mine hack to wipe out Russian troops, forcing Putin to go back
to the drawing board for his ground offensive. Ukraine’s innovation all starts with a challenge
that most of its military leaders never thought they would have to confront. In April, reports
started to emerge that Russia was training its troops to ride motorcycles so they could attack
Ukraine. At first, this was great news for Ukraine. Motorcycles aren’t armored vehicles.
Sure, they’re fast and mobile, but they offer practically no protection to the soldiers riding
them. Russia’s use of motorcycles must have been a showcase of Putin’s desperation given that he’s
already lost over 10,700 tanks and almost 22,500 armored fighting vehicles in his Ukraine invasion.
If Russia was resorting to motorcycles, that must have meant it was on its last
legs when it came to mechanized assaults. Perhaps not quite.
While it’s true that Russia is burning through its stockpiles of armored
vehicles, Putin’s increasing use of motorcycles has several other purposes. Russia wants to
use these vehicles as part of a renewed summer offensive against Ukraine. That’s according to an
April 27 report published by The Kyiv Independent, which cites the Institute for the Study of War, or
ISW, as the source of its information. According to the ISW, The Russian Defense Ministry
is proud of its new motorcycle tactics. So proud that it even published footage on April
26 of its troops training on the two-wheeled vehicles in what the ISW says indicates
Putin’s plans to create “a tactical doctrine for systematic offensive motorcycle usage.”
That footage showcased only a handful of Russian troops training on motorcycles.
The reality is that there will likely be hundreds who get sent to
fight against Ukraine in the summer. That’s according to Pavlo Shamshyn,
who’s the spokesperson for the Ukrainian operational-tactical group Kharkiv. Reporting on
Russia’s plans, Shamshyn says, “Our intelligence records the fact that in training centers on the
territory of the Russian Federation and in the units themselves, active training of motorcycle
drivers is taking place, and all this indicates that the assault operations of spring-summer
2025 will be carried out on motorcycles.” The question now is obvious:
Why? Motorcycles come with plenty of disadvantages that
seem to make them a bad choice for the Ukraine war’s front lines. The previously mentioned lack
of armor is one. If a motorcycle is struck by practically anything, ranging from a bullet up
to artillery fire, it’s not going to offer much protection to its riders. The vehicles are
weak. The riders are exposed. And compared to armored vehicles and tanks, motorcycles offer
practically no protection to the waves of people Putin is sending to assault Ukraine’s defenses.
On the surface, Putin’s new strategy looks like just another way for him to sacrifice
more of his own soldiers against Ukraine. But there’s actually some
method behind Putin’s madness. For one thing, the use of motorcycles by
Russia is nothing new, even if its more intensive training campaigns are recent.
As CNN pointed out in an April 27 report, Russians have been using these types of
vehicles for at least a year because they provide enough speed and mobility to allow
troops to evade the first-person view, or FPV, drones Ukraine has been deploying to take
out Russia’s tanks and armored vehicles. It isn’t a perfect solution for Putin.
A motorcycle that gets struck by a drone is going to be destroyed even faster than a more
armored vehicle. Motorcycles are also loud. So loud that their engines can mask the sound
of an incoming drone, making their riders even more vulnerable. But the trick lies in the
catching. Motorcycles are also cheaper than tanks and armored vehicles, making them viable
options for a Russian leader who has already demonstrated that he’s willing to throw his troops
away to get what he wants. Almost 960,000 dead, injured, or captured Russian soldiers don’t
lie. Putin doesn’t care about his troops. If using motorcycles allows even a handful of them to
evade drones so they can get closer to Ukraine’s defenses, that’s perfectly fine with Putin.
So, avoiding drones is the main reason behind Putin’s use of motorcycles.
But there’s another reason – one that Putin may not have even been aware of when
he approved plans for motorcycle training: Russia’s bikes are ideal for avoiding
the carefully laid mines Ukraine has planted to defend its positions against
incoming tanks and armored vehicles. That’s according to Euromaidan Press, which
reported on May 5 that Ukraine has been dealing with a problem it never anticipated
facing. That problem revealed itself during a recent Russian assault near Druzhba. In
early May, Russia accumulated several tanks and armored vehicles in that region. Putin’s goal
was simple – use his heavy armor to make progress across several fields before Russia deployed
its infantry to attack a Ukrainian position. The assault was slow, says Euromaidan Press.
That’s because Russia had transformed many of its tanks into so-called “turtle tanks” by
equipping them with wood, rubber, and even metal chains to protect them against Ukraine’s
kamikaze FPV drones. Those measures work. However, they add weight and can sometimes reduce
visibility, necessitating slower progress. That crawling pace enabled Ukraine to
spend time using its drones to pinpoint the weaknesses of these hastily modified tanks.
Once found, those weaknesses led to the same result seen so many times during the Ukraine war:
Russia’s heavy armored vehicles went up in flames. But this time, Russia followed up
the armored assault with motorcycles. Those bikes were more successful than the
slow-moving armored units. A few even managed to break through, reaching the settlement of
Dylivka – far deeper into Ukrainian territory than the tanks had managed. The motorcyclists
still failed. Ukraine’s FPV drones eventually managed to pick them off, taking out several
while they were en route before killing the rest of Russia’s troops when they inevitably
had to slow down so they could dismount. Still, it was clear there was a problem.
What that problem was became clear when there was a lull in the fighting that allowed Ukraine
to spend some time mopping up the few Russian survivors while it examined its defenses. A key
vulnerability emerged. As Ukraine’s soldiers asked themselves how Russia’s motorcycle troops had
managed to penetrate so deeply into its position, they settled on the culprit.
Ukraine’s anti-tank mines. Designed to trigger when a heavy vehicle, such
as a tank or armored car, rolls over them, these mines had proven themselves completely
ineffective against Russia’s motorcycles. The riders simply drove over them. The mines didn’t
trigger, allowing Russia’s lightly armored troops to achieve far more success than the
slow-moving armored units from the first assault. Ukraine needed a solution.
That’s when its sappers came into play. First, these clever engineers reinforced
the anti-tank mines they’d already laid with anti-personnel mines. The use of these mines
is contentious. The Ottawa Convention exists to ban their use around the world due to the
danger they pose both to soldiers and everyday civilians who accidentally step on the mines
when a conflict is over. However, Ukraine is in a needs-must situation. It’s using anti-personnel
mines precisely because Putin is so happy to send human waves to assault its defenses. Every Russian
blown up by one of these mines is proof, at least to Ukraine, that it’s justified in using them.
Still, Ukraine’s supply of these mines was limited, as was the time it had to lay them
given that Putin’s forces were assembling for another assault. That’s when Ukraine’s
sappers came up with a brilliant hack. What if they could find a way to transform
their more powerful anti-tank mines so they’d blow up just as easily if a motorcycle rode
over them as an anti-personnel mine would? The question was raised. Within minutes, the
sappers had an answer. Rather than relying on the mines to trigger based on the pressure exerted
upon them, Ukraine’s sappers jerry-rigged their anti-tank mines with a wire-triggered mechanism.
If a motorcycle tripped any of these wires, then boom! The mine goes off and both
bike and rider are blown to smithereens. That wasn’t the limit of the sappers’ genius
solution. Beyond layi ng anti-personnel mines and adapting anti-tank mines, they also
modified mines they’d built themselves. Again, the goal was the same – recalibration
and fine-tuning to ensure those mines detonate whenever a bike rides over them.
These insane mine hacks are just the most recent of the many examples of Ukraine
showcasing its inability to innovate on the fly to deal with evolving Russian threats.
Dividends were reaped when Russia attempted its third and final assault on Dylivka.
This time, Putin’s soldiers attempted a combined push that included both armored vehicles
and the motorcycles that gave Ukraine so much trouble during the second wave of attacks. The
logic was sound. The first attack showed that slow-moving vehicles couldn’t do much without
some form of distraction. Russia’s second assault demonstrated that motorcycles could ride through
Ukraine’s defenses, forcing its soldiers to focus on the bikes and riders rather than the heavier
vehicles following up. With its third assault, Russia believed it could use its motorcycles as a
distraction. They’d ride over the Ukrainian mines and wreak havoc, giving Putin’s tanks and armored
vehicles time to get into position to launch a sustained and stronger assault against Dylivka.
It was a sound strategy but for one thing: Russia hadn’t accounted for the
brilliant work done by Ukraine’s sappers. With the Ukrainian minefields recalibrated,
Russia’s motorcyclists found themselves getting blown to pieces as they attempted to play their
role in the assault. That left Ukraine free to dedicate its FPV drones to the important task of
taking out yet more tanks and armored vehicles. Ukraine won. And geolocated footage shared by
Euromaidan Press shows just how devastating a defeat this was for Putin’s forces. The images
show several Russian motorcycles strewn across the side of the road leading into Dylivka,
many of them damaged or in flames as a result of Ukraine’s clever mine alterations. The few
Russian riders who managed to survive having their bikes blown from underneath them were
quickly picked off by drones, the outlet says. By the end of the third assault, Russia
hadn’t even managed to come close to Dylivka, certainly not in comparison to the second wave.
Putin had intended for his motorcycle troops to exploit what he believed to be a weakness in
Ukraine’s lines. They did. Russia’s problem, as has been the case throughout Putin’s invasion, is
that it underestimated Ukraine’s ability to adapt on the fly as soon as a weakness is revealed.
Thanks to its sappers, Ukraine now has a viable strategy to use against Russia’s motorcyclists.
What was supposed to be a new Russian strength – one that exposed a Ukrainian
vulnerability – has transformed into a weakness that Ukraine can exploit.
It also seems likely that the Ukrainian stroke of genius is already
having an impact on Russia’s tactics. At around the same time as Russia was failing
to use its motorcyclists to attack Dylivka, another Russian assault column was trying to make
its way into Nadiivka. This was a more traditional column, made up of tanks and armored vehicles.
Again, mines ended up being the stars of the show. Ukraine scattered dozens of anti-tank
mines on the road into Nadiivka, taking out several Russian armored units in the process.
Ukraine’s tactic in this engagement focused on preventing the Russian retreat. As Putin’s
tanks and armored vehicles rolled along the road, Ukraine’s sappers snuck into positions behind
them to lay new mines. Once the Russian column hit the first minefield, it lost several of its
vehicles and chose to turn back to come up with a new assault strategy. That didn’t work.
The previously safe road they’d navigated was now littered with mines, meaning Ukraine
had created devastating choke points. The rest of Russia’s tanks were finished off by the
new mines. Operators attempting to escape the vehicles were picked off by FPV drones.
Another Russian assault had failed. This second assault didn’t include any
motorcycles, but it’s another showcase of how Ukraine’s brilliant sappers can use mines
to prevent Putin’s forces from advancing. And now that those sappers have a new hack for taking
out motorcycle troops, Putin faces a dilemma: Does he continue with his motorcycle
strategy for the summer or go back to the armored column assaults that
Nadiivka shows us are often ineffectual? Either way, the story will be the same for Russia.
It’s going to lose thousands more soldiers and hundreds of pieces of equipment thanks
to the brilliance of Ukraine’s sappers. And that leads to another question…
What does the innovation of Ukraine’s sappers mean for the future of the Ukraine war?
The first answer forces a confrontation with a sad reality created by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. A
country that is already laden with more mines than almost any other in the world is only going to see
even more of these dangerous weapons being laid. As early as November 2023, outlets such as Vox
were highlighting the sheer proliferation of landmines in Ukraine. In its article, Vox noted
that around 67,181 square miles of Ukraine were believed to contain mines of some description. For
context, that’s a landmass the approximate size of Florida and it makes up about 30% of Ukraine.
Those mines are everywhere. While minefields are at their densest in locations that Russia
currently occupies, with combinations of both Ukrainian mines and those Russia
has laid contributing to that problem, there are still thousands of landmines spread
around territory Ukraine still owns. All told, 11 of Ukraine’s 27 regions were documented
to contain mines by the end of 2023. There are likely many more regions that
have been contaminated by mines since. Those mines represent a “clear and present”
danger according to HALO Trust head Major General James Cowan. Speaking to CEPA in November
2024, he pointed out that Ukraine is caught in a difficult situation. “War is inherently
brutal,” Cowan told CEPA. “One side seeks to prevail through violence unless the other can
resist effectively.” Cowan also said that Ukraine has the right to self-defense, which means that,
at least under certain guidelines, it’s within its rights to use anti-personnel landmines and
the jerry-rigged mines its sappers are creating to take out Russia’s motorcycle troops.
Still, there’s no denying that mines are a major problem in Ukraine. By November 2024,
a further 10% of Ukraine’s territory had been dotted with the weapons, meaning at least 40%
of Ukraine is now home to mines. Think about what that means when the Ukraine war ends.
These mines potentially present a massive humanitarian problem regardless of which side
wins. Assuming a successful Ukrainian defense, the country’s authorities will have to spend
many years clearing out the minefields that now litter Ukraine. Unintended civilian deaths are
almost inevitable, especially in the cities Russia currently occupies that have been laced with
mines to prevent Ukraine from reclaiming them. As brilliant as Ukraine’s sappers are for finding
a way to overcome Putin’s motorcycle forces, they’re now feeding into a problem
that Ukraine – or Russia – will have to deal with at some point in the future.
Ukraine will argue that it’s doing what it has to do to defend itself.
It would be right. On a more positive front, the hacking of its
own anti-tank mines also showcases just how innovative a fighting force Ukraine’s military
has become. The sappers responsible for what’s been seen in Druzhba and Dylivka are typically
engineers who previously focused on demining the areas that Russia had laced. October 2023
saw Ukraine provide 20 of its sapper teams with mine clearance kits for that purpose as part of
the “We Live Here” project. That move followed a similar effort by the Come Back Alive Foundation,
which provided 51 sapper teams with similar kits. The point here is that Ukraine is well
aware of the landmine problem it has and is actively doing everything it can
to get rid of the mines that represent the biggest threats to its civilians. Still,
it’s also shown it can repurpose its sappers. These landmine experts have shown themselves to
be as effective as an offensive force as they are a mine clearance force in Dylivka. Ukraine
will likely use them in this dual role for as long as needed to prevent Putin’s aggression.
Speaking of Putin, Ukraine’s brilliant mine hack means one thing for his plans to use
motorcycles in Russia’s summer offensive: They’re practically dead in the water.
Putin’s original plan was to use his motorcyclists to distract drone fire and, as far
as possible, evade drones to launch assaults on Ukraine’s defenses. That plan has already proven
to be ineffective. Ukraine is capable of taking our Russian motorcycle riders with drones when
those riders attack without armored support. When tanks and armored vehicles are present,
Ukraine can now use mines designed to take out both motorcycles and heavier vehicles,
meaning the diversionary tactics Putin hoped to use during the summer aren’t going to work.
Does that mean Putin and his cronies will head back to the drawing board?
They should. Dylivka has just given Russia a taste of what
using motorcycle assaults will really mean when Putin ramps them up in the summer. The problem
Putin faces is one touched on earlier – he’s running out of usable tanks and armored vehicles.
Tens of thousands of both are already destroyed, leaving Russia to increasingly rely on
older Soviet-era equipment that has been mothballed for decades. Motorcycle assaults
are perhaps as much of a necessity due to low equipment stockpiles as they are a tactical
maneuver to avoid Ukraine’s drones and mines. Putin will have to follow through on his
initial plans for the summer. He doesn’t really have any choice. Ukraine’s response
will likely be to build on the brilliance its sappers demonstrated on May 5 so it can
respond to Russia’s motorcycle troops with the destructive defense needed to prevent advances.
One thing is for certain – Ukraine’s capable of finding ways to adapt. The only question now
is whether Russia’s summer strategy will be overwhelming enough to overcome those adaptations.
Let us know how you think Russia’s motorcycle soldiers are going to fare during the summer
in the comments. Are they going to be blown to pieces by Ukraine’s mine innovations? Will
Russia make any substantial territorial gains during the summer? Share your opinions below and
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49 Comments
i hate how this guy talks lol
Make Harley Davidson rich again !
This is essentially light cavalry with motorcycles rather than horses.
Impressive strategy by Ukraine using mines to decimate Russian troops! Do you think this tactic could change the course of the war? What’s next for Ukraine?
Good report.
WHAT BIKES ARE THEY?????????????
Is this report aimed at a 5 year old?
Im sick of the ideology Russia is loosing when we look at the ground in Ukraine it's holding as much as i wish Ukraine to hold on but Russian military north Korean and Belarus why isn't anyone sending there military personnel and their weapons
Well Ukraine got an entire motorbike group with cluster munitions! And the Ruskies are using bicycles and scooters also!
Russia will adapt also to ideas that are given in YouTube. It's just when?
It's despair from Putin
They cannot aim their rifles while riding no suppressing fire
Puts a new meaning to Minecraft
'Putin doesn't care about his troops'. Pity this message isn't getting through to the ordinary Russian people.
CHINA HAS DONATED 10,000 HAWK 250 ENDURO BIKES!! I WOULD NOT BE TRYING TO GET INTO UKRAINIAN LINES BY WAY OF MOTORCYCLES 😂
Putin needs to understand that times has changed, and the Drone is one of the most devastating pieces of weaponry that's on the battlefield today. Just think a weapon that can survey the area, attack and destroy a Tank, and help guide artillery to destroy the enemy. Putin you can't win. He no longer has Commander's to command his troops that have experience in fighting wars. Once your troops become so inexperienced, because they don't get the training that they need. Even North Koreans will be able to take on Russian troops. 🤔 Putin: I never saw that coming. These Ukrainian's are very smart. Drones are a nightmare for my troops. 😥 Okay we give up. 😵💫
Nothing "insane" about this – that "hack" has been in use for decades.
I really hope that they have been using modern technology to map and geotag the mines as they place them.
Where are these Motorcycles coming from? Can't imagine its manufactured in Russia?
Because war is turning into a war of drones all(very soon useless) weapons of 20th century like tanks and artillery should be sent to help Ukraine
A bully caught in it's trap
Russias military has devolved into a motorcycle gang!😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
Do motorcycle put in the victory parade?
Russia is using motorcycles for one reason only. They have nothing else. They have run out of farm carts and donkeys and push carts and electric scooters.
Piano wire of doom
The bike is smarter than tanks. They said that they are fast enough to get away from ground forces. One troop said if you had to go to the front line the only way was by bike only cars are big and tanks are slow so if the only way to survive is by bike guess that answers all those questions.
From tanks and IFVs to those motorcycles that looks made in china…is this a Steve Martin movie?
This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Russia needs a military coup. This is the dumbest war ever.
Ignoring the fact Russia can fight basically forever. Opposition can’t.
russia's breeding program focuses on quantity, not quality .SNAFU!
Did they run out of donkeys?
It's not about protection; it's about how many get killed. Example: If Russia sends out a bunch of troops in the back of a truck and a drone hits the truck, it kills everyone riding in the truck, but if a motorcycle gets hit only 1 soldier gets killed. That also means, Ukraine just waisted a drone on 1 soldier.
If the motorcycle brigade dressed like the Hell’s Angels they might be taken seriously 😂😂😂😂😂😂
To much useless commentary to make longer video.
Who is manufacturing, selling and delivering these China bikes? Asking for a friend.
I'm far from an expert, but I doubt the sappers were sneaking in behind the advancing tanks to mine the way back. There are some mines designed to only detonate after a number of vehicles have rolled over them. The disabled vehicle then blocks the road to stop or slow the rest of the column, meaning the first few are on their own, and can't retreat. But if there weren't enough to trigger those mines on the way in, they will on the way back. From what (admittedly little) I know, I think that's more likely what happened. It seems unlikely that they'd leave small groups of undefended soldiers that they can't resupply in the middle of a minefield close to enemy lines.
Putin can't do much with temu gear. Every new plan of his is laughable
Not HACKS! Techniques.
You repeat the same tired ‘filler’ points again and again. You’re BORING.
Wait, why do Ukrainians need to develop countermeasures against motorbike attacks in first place? Haven’t we been told for weeks how ridiculous and weak the motorbike attacks are, and that the Russian are just doing it because they ran out of armored vehicles? Something doesn’t add up here… 🤔
Gawd! 90% too tooi too much repeat Yap!
It’s not like their tanks offered much protection.
Omg it's on call of duty. They put bikes in their game and it has the same problem. Too exposed
Putin is not sensible the soilders must make Putin face the bottle field and fight the war him self for he is too wicked.
(Imagine the allure of motorcycle training!)
And they probably don’t fall under military weapons trade restrictions.
Ok… Are the motorcycles for fighting or were they using them to fowl mine fields by trying to "run through" ground mines so they blast off "after" they zoom over ~ so tanks can follow ~ or is that incredibly wishful thinking… (Not that I would ever try crazy stunts like that!)
Putin, the progenitor of Mad Max
They ran out of tanks.