The russian invasion army in Ukraine is actively using various types of buggy cars on the battlefield, either for assaults or non-combat missions, such as conducting rotations, delivering cargo, and similar. Since summer 2024, russia has deliberately adopted a course toward scaling up the use of buggies and ATVs and launched driving courses at military training centers.
Reports by russian state media portray buggies as an indispensable means of transport on the battlefield, allowing the troops to effectively carry out missions in off-road conditions. The spread of the unconventional vehicles is also associated with the significant losses in other types of troop carriers russia has suffered throughout the three years of intense continental warfare.
In addition, russian outlets claim that soldiers in the field have mastered the production of buggies “directly in the SVO zone,” an acronym for Special Military Operation which is the Kremlin’s label for the armed campaign against Ukraine. Impromptu vehicles are assembled by the repair and maintenance units of the russian military.
To create new buggies, they use engines, components and assemblies from vehicles captured in battles or cannibalize those that were damaged beyond repair. They have supposedly produced “hundreds” of buggies this way already.
“The key is to find an engine, a gearbox, and you are good to launch production. Everything else can be found on site,” says one russian expert.
Besides buggies, russian forces also use quad bikes in assault operations, although they perform worse — primarily because they can carry less weight.