Russia relying on horses, donkeys for resupply in war with Ukraine

• As U.S. pressure on Ukraine to negotiate increases, Russia is turning to mounted soldiers on horseback. While horses in warfare is an ancient practice, Russia is now employing them again for battlefield logistics.
• Due to the high rate of vehicle losses — over 15,000 — Russia is relying on horses as a quieter, harder-to-detect alternative for transporting troops and supplies.
• Alongside horses, Russian forces are also using donkeys to haul equipment, ammunition and food, with officials justifying their use due to vehicle shortages and resupply challenges.

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While U.S. pressure mounts on Ukraine to come to the negotiating table, a different kind of mount is showing up on Russia’s frontlines: mounted soldiers on horseback.

Horses being used in warfare isn’t exactly new. The practice dates back thousands of years, but most modern armies use horses primarily in ceremonial roles. American special operators did use horses in Afghanistan after 9/11, but the practice isn’t common today.

Russian soldiers were documented by the Kyiv Post on horseback resupplying troops back in 2023. Now that the world’s second-largest army has lost more than 15,000 vehicles, horses are becoming much more prevalent as a means of moving troops, equipment and supplies around the battlefield.

It’s the latest reminder that even warfare in the 21st century, with all of its drones, still involves a heavy reliance on centuries-old tactics, tools, and transport methods.

Do horses offer a tactical advantage in a modern battle?

Vehicles are loud, and they’re easy for drone operators to spot from the air — whether it be tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, passenger vans, ruggedized golf carts, quad bikes or motorcycles. Ukrainian drone operators and artillery strikes are destroying an average of 6,000 vehicles a year at this point in the war.

Horses are quieter and a little harder to find from the air. Additionally, if spotted, a horse can move faster than a soldier on foot.

So, while there is an argument to be made that horses make sense in these scenarios, it’s hardly the first option Russian commanders want to employ. The same is likely true for another hoofed creature making more appearances in Russia’s logistic lines — donkeys.

Donkeys join the fight in Russian logistics

Videos and pictures posted to Telegram channels in Russia show soldiers using the pack animal to haul equipment, ammunition and food with varying degrees of success.

One Russian general told Russian state media given the vehicle shortages and struggles to resupply troops with ammo, food and medicine, using donkeys and horses in logistics is “normal.” The general added that it’s better a donkey dies than two men in a car “carrying the things necessary for battle and sustenance.”