Dozens of Russians advanced on Vugledar on motorcycles: the Ukrainian Armed Forces blew up about 20 “bikers”
Date: 2024-07-04 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
Struggling to obtain enough new armored vehicles to replace the estimated 16,000 vehicles lost in Ukraine, the Russian military became desperate this spring and began equipping assault troops with inexpensive dirt bikes, Forbes writes.
The theory is that soldiers on fast dirt bikes can outrun the thousands of tiny Ukrainian drones that swarm over the 700-mile front line every day.
"Sometimes it works. While the Russian offensive in the north, which began on May 9, quickly stalled in the city of Volchansk, located a few miles south of the Russian-Ukrainian border, Russian troops numbering about 500,000 in Ukraine have managed to advance several miles in several sectors in recent weeks," the analysts wrote.
They point out that motorcycle attacks usually don't work.
“And sometimes attacks on bicycles turn into bloodbaths for Russians. On June 28, a large group of assault bikers, apparently dozens, attacked the 72nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army in Ugledar in southern Ukraine,” the material says.
According to Russian “military correspondent” Sladkov, the goal was to bypass the Ukrainian position and cut it off.
“A blow is brewing for the Ukrainians in the back, or rather from the rear,” he wrote before the attack.
But the Ukrainians struck the Russian column, which also included T-80 tanks and other armored vehicles, with drones and, apparently, missiles and artillery. Buried mines may have further exacerbated the destruction.
"When the smoke cleared, Russian troops lay in ruins. The 72nd Mechanized Brigade said it had knocked out 16 tanks, 34 combat vehicles and 19 motorcycles, and killed or seriously wounded more than 800 Russian troops," experts note.
The Russian command “deliberately threw manpower into the Ukrainian death harvester, having no chance of survival,” reported Ukrainian war correspondent Yuri Butusov.
"Unfortunately for the Russians, the motorcycle assault in Ugledar was not the only failed such attack in late June or early July. On Monday, analyst Andrew Perpetua counted 25 Russian motorcycles destroyed in recent fighting," they added.
