When the power goes out, people dust off long-forgotten tools: gas burners, manual coffee grinders and anything else that does not rely on power.
As drones monitor the entire battlefield and destroy a growing number of military and civilian vehicles, soldiers are turning to long-forgotten, relatively quiet forms of transport that require neither fuel nor complex maintenance – horses and donkeys.
In January, a video went viral showing a Ukrainian first-person-view (FPV) drone attacking two Russian horsemen at low altitude. The drone closes in rapidly, spooking the horses as the riders struggle to keep their balance. A sudden manoeuvre throws both men from their saddles, after which the drone delivers its final strike.
This was not a one-off. In recent months, Russian units have turned to horses and mules near the war-torn city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine's east and on the Zaporizhzhia and Siversk fronts.
Ukrainian soldiers from the 1st Separate Assault Regiment even managed to seize some Russian horses, putting them to work carrying their wounded.
Read this Ukrainska Pravda report on cases of horses and donkeys appearing in the Russo-Ukrainian war and the probable logic behind their deployment.
Horses and donkeys for logistics
The front line has become a zone where almost any vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, from armoured equipment to civilian cars and quad bikes, is spotted and risks destruction. The danger is greatest in hard-to-traverse areas, where movement is slower.
When Russia goes on the offensive, logistical strains worsen, pushing its forces to explore alternative solutions.
The first isolated use of horses by Russian forces occurred some time ago. Horses, donkeys and mules were primarily used as pack animals to carry supplies through rugged terrain. By the end of 2025, however, their use had become more frequent.
A video circulating on Telegram shows Russian soldiers on horseback moving slowly across open terrain towards the city of Pokrovsk.
Another notable episode was captured by drone operators from Ukraine's 92nd Separate Mechanised Brigade. The footage captures Russian horsemen moving across open ground. One rider was struck by an FPV drone, while another lost control and fell from his horse after an explosion.
Today, Russian forces turn to horses and donkeys for a variety of operational tasks, from moving troops and hauling ammunition to conducting surveillance.
The most exotic of these is a horse used as a platform for Starlink, a satellite-based internet system providing broadband connectivity in remote or hard-to-reach areas. Several videos circulating online show Russian soldiers attaching cameras and satellite communication terminals to the animals.
"They're issued phones – ordinary, cheap Android-powered devices," explains Mykola Hrytsenko, Chief of Staff of the 4th Operational Battalion of Ukraine's Rubizh Brigade. "They switch on a live stream from the phone camera, and the commander guides them directly through it – 'left, right, hide here, this is our position', and so on. It's an interesting solution, but we're still relying on ground-based robotic systems to support our brothers-in-arms."
A Rubizh Brigade unit had already recorded Russian horses in December, as they were engaged between Dobropillia and Myrnohrad.
"It was only a kilometre, maybe a kilometre and a half from our positions," said Hrytsenko. "Bad weather, fog, sub-zero temperatures – drones have trouble flying in these conditions. At first, the large heat signature looked like a stray animal. Getting closer, we realised it was something else."
Hrytsenko said the Russians were using a horse to move troops trying to sneak in and establish a foothold in a frontline area.
"The enemy's primary tactic is infiltration," he explained. "Small teams attempt to cross the grey zone, close in on Ukrainian positions and hold out as long as they can. Providing these groups with equipment is extremely difficult, so horses were employed."
Russian propaganda frames the use of horses as a deliberate tactical choice. Semyon Pegov, a Russian military blogger, released footage of mounted units in training, hailing it as a "revival of Russian cavalry" and presenting their use as an adaptation to modern warfare.
In the video, a special forces commander known as Khan lays out the logic: assault troops must traverse 10-15 km to reach their positions while carrying ammunition and gear, then maintain the energy to attack and fall back. Horses, he notes, ease part of this load. The story also highlights horses' "instincts", their ability to move off-road and their superior navigation at night.
Pavlo Narozhnyi, founder of the logistics-focused artillery company Reactive Post, points out the disadvantages of horses: their large size, low manoeuvrability and visible heat signature.
"A horse is a large heat source," he said. "Thermal cameras and drones will spot it immediately. You can't load ammunition without a cart, which makes the load even bigger. That makes this kind of logistics vulnerable, even on the approaches [to the battlefield – ed]."
Narozhnyi believes that using these animals for logistics is only viable when other transport options are severely limited.
Hrytsenko believes Russian forces may turn to horses across the front in the current situation – not because they work well, but because they are cheap and expendable.
"They operate by a simple rule: walk if you want to walk, buy a motorbike if you want one, find a horse if you need one," he explained. "Survival does not seem to factor into their thinking. I'm certain they will keep pushing this idea forward."
Hrytsenko noted that animals are progressively replacing standard tactical logistics in Russian units, especially when missions are ordered to "be completed at any cost" and the burden of finding resources falls on the units.
Hrytsenko said his unit had explored the use of horses in 2023 but decided against it, judging that the risks were too high compared with the potential benefits.
Horses in Ukrainian and foreign militaries
Horses are used in warfare not only when there is a lack of equipment, but also where precise work with the terrain is needed. Ukrainian special forces have already demonstrated this. The commander of Artan, a unit under Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, recently detailed one such operation in an interview with Army TV, a Ukrainian military news TV channel.
The commander said the mission had required a deep incursion into Russian‑held territory. The area was densely mined, leaving no time for complete clearance. The use of armoured vehicles or cars would have automatically compromised the main condition of the operation – secrecy.
The Ukrainian assault groups advanced on foot and were required to operate independently for several days. Such conditions presented a challenge: how to deliver the necessary equipment, ammunition and supplies without creating unnecessary noise or visual signatures.
It was at that point that an unconventional decision was made: horses would carry equipment and supplies. The animals were prepared in advance to operate alongside humans in the combat zone, particularly being accustomed to the sounds of gunfire and explosions to reduce the risk of panic.
Horses and mules continue to fill a niche in modern militaries where terrain or conditions limit mechanised transport. American forces, for example, used mules in Afghanistan's mountains to move supplies along paths that vehicles could not traverse.
For decades, the Indian Army has used pack animals in the high mountains of the Himalayas. Similarly, the Swiss Armed Forces maintain such units for mountain operations, viewing animals as a key element of logistics.
In each example, animals remain a solution for clearly defined conditions, not a catch-all fix. It is thus appropriate to separate cases where the use of horses is a considered, operationally effective decision from those where it signals persistent logistical shortcomings.
Four years into Russia's war against Ukraine, the line between what is modern and what is outdated has blurred. Major wars rarely follow a straight line – they break it, requiring the use of both advanced technology and methods long thought obsolete.
In today's battlefield conditions, the use of horses reflects operational realities and represents an intriguing by‑product of both the technological arms race and the mammoth scale of hostilities, which drives the search for simple, inexpensive solutions.
Translation: Artem Yakymyshyn
Editing: Susan McDonald