Russian Forces Expanding Their Use of Motorcycles

A service member in a Ukrainian brigade reported on Tuesday that the threat of Russian motorcycle assaults is increasing along the frontline as Russian forces increasingly integrate them into assault tactics.

The soldier said that Russian motorcycle forces are no longer attacking along roads but mainly attacking through open fields and trying to bypass Ukrainian engineering barriers along the frontline.

Ukraine-based open-source intelligence organization Frontelligence Insight (FI) provided additional information on June 23 about the tactical doctrine the Russian military is establishing for motorcycle usage. The group reported that Russian forces are mainly using motorcycles as a form of transport for attacking infantry to support diversion, reconnaissance, infiltration, and flanking support missions.

FI reported that Russian motorcyclists operate in squads of six to eight motorcycles with one or two riders on each motorcycle (between six and 16 personnel in total). Each squad reportedly has two to four portable electronic warfare (EW) systems and one device scanning for Ukrainian drones.

Russian forces reportedly are also leveraging motorcycles for casualty evacuation and logistics support. Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported in May 2025 that Russian forces were mainly using motorcycles in tandem with armored vehicles.

Moscow’s army also appears to be increasingly relying on the two-wheelers as a method of transport and advancement independent from tanks and armored vehicles in recent weeks. Russian forces have been training troops on motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) at ad hoc motocross tracks in Russia and occupied Ukraine as of Spring 2025.

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The units are conducting more advanced training programs, the group added, including for drone evasion, and that the length of these courses varies between 16 hours to over a month. They are mainly using foreign-made motorcycles, primarily those manufactured in China and that volunteer organizations in Russia provide most of the motorcycles for frontline Russian units.

Citing internal documents from the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), FI analysts said Russia intends to equip over half of its infantry forces with motorcycles, ATVs, and buggies in the future.

The Institute for the Study of War continues to assess that Russian forces will likely increasingly depend on motorcycles and other quicker unarmored vehicles, as slower-moving vehicles have become a hazard on the more transparent battlefield of Ukraine. Russian efforts to integrate tactical innovations, such as motorcycle usage, among frontline units indicates that the Russian military is learning modern ground warfare lessons that it intends to leverage beyond the war in Ukraine.