Russia’s consumption of its pre-war Soviet-era tank stores “appears to be slowing,” according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), as Moscow increasingly shifts to using motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Shift in equipment usage linked to depleted reserves

On 16 June, ISW cited a social media source that analyzes satellite imagery of Russian military depots. This source assessed that, as of a recent but unspecified date, Russia retained 46% of its pre-war tank reserves, 42% of its infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) reserves, and 48% of its armored personnel carrier (APC) reserves.

The data reflects only a modest decline from December 2024, when the same source assessed Russia had 47% of tanks, 52% of IFVs, and 45% of APCs still in storage. The adjusted figures stem from an update made on 15 June, when the source revised Russia’s original pre-war equipment estimates—adding 241 tanks, 174 IFVs, and 687 APCs—affecting percentage shifts accordingly.

The same source reported that most vehicle reserves have been withdrawn from eight key Russian depots. Based on this trend, the source concluded that Russia is likely to exhaust its remaining armored reserves by the end of 2025.

Surge in equipment activity near Finland

Satellite imagery also revealed what the source called a “dramatic” increase in nearly all types of military equipment deployed to a Russian base near Petrozavodsk, in the Republic of Karelia. This location lies approximately 373 kilometers from the Finnish border.

However, the source acknowledged that Russia may still hold additional vehicles in covered storage not visible via satellite surveillance, according to ISW.

The Wall Street Journal reported on 27 April that a senior Finnish military official claimed Russia is sending “almost none” of its newly manufactured tanks to Ukraine. 

Frontline use of motorcycles and buggies grows

ISW noted that the slowing consumption of tank reserves aligns with an observed increase in the use of motorcycles and buggies on the Ukrainian frontline. Since late fall 2024, Russian troops have employed these unarmored civilian vehicles more frequently, especially in contested “gray zones” shaped by Ukrainian and Russian drone activity.

Combat footage reviewed by ISW confirms this shift, with lighter and faster vehicles used to counter the vulnerability of traditional armored units to drone strikes. The think tank previously linked this trend to the heavy armored vehicle losses sustained by Russian forces in late 2023 and 2024.

Tactical gains come at high cost

While these adaptations have allowed Russian troops to make minor tactical advances, ISW emphasized they come at the expense of significant infantry losses. 

“ISW previously assessed that Russian armored vehicle losses are unsustainable and are undermining Russia’s ability to sustain a protracted high-intensity war, but it remains unclear if Russia’s increased reliance on motorcycles and buggies will be sufficient to offset these losses in the medium- to long-term,” the think tank wrote.

Today, there are interesting updates from the Kupiansk direction. Here, as Russian losses have officially hit an unprecedented 1 million count, the breaking point finally came, and the soldiers began turning their rifles on their own commanders rather than face certain death in futile assaults.

Three bullets on road to Nyzhnia Duvanka

In one of the most brutal recent examples of growing disorder within Russian ranks, several Russian soldiers near the settlement of Nyzhnia Duvanka in the Luhansk region turned on their own.

By shooting and killing the military police platoon commander and two of his barrier troop subordinates and running away, they sparked a frantic search operation by Russian authorities.

The deserters left their comrades to lie dead on the road while fleeing to save their lives from both Ukrainian and Russian fire.

Pischane funnel: Where men disappear

This violent mutiny did not emerge in a vacuum; it is directly tied to the hopeless bloodbath unfolding near the Kupiansk front, specifically at the Pischane funnel. For months, Russian forces have tried and failed to break through Ukrainian defenses here.

The Ukrainians have created a deadly trap by controlling the flanks, exposing any Russian assault to relentless drone and artillery fire from both sides. Yet commanders continue to send wave after wave of infantry into the funnel, hoping to drive a wedge through Ukrainian lines.

Every new wave knows exactly how it will end, as almost no one from previous groups returns alive. The systematic nature of these assaults has been likened to mass execution, with soldiers pushed forward not for tactical gain but to serve as human battering rams.

Mad Max cars and vanishing men

To make matters worse, Russian troops are being sent into combat in improvised Mad Max-style vehicles, like the Gaz-69, which entered production in 1952, the year of Stalin’s death, and regular cars fitted with rudimentary armor or even none.

Such improvised motorcycle squads and barely armored vehicles now lead the charge, only to be annihilated by Ukrainian FPV drones well before reaching the contact line. These desperate measures highlight not only material shortages but a total disregard for the lives of Russian troops.

Ukrainian surveillance drones ensure that almost no movement goes undetected, meaning most assaults are decimated long before they engage the defenders.

When running is not option

Despite the carnage, desertions in the Russian army remain surprisingly rare. The reason lies in the sheer brutality of the punishments for refusing to fight.

Soldiers who resist are subjected to medieval-style torture. Some are thrown into pits without food before being forced to fight each other to the death to earn the right to live another day.

In one documented case, soldiers were tied behind vehicles and dragged through the dirt, while other deserters were forced to bury each other alive as punishment and to serve as an example. In the Lyman area, a surrendering Russian soldier was spotted by Russian drone operators and targeted by his own artillery.

This highlights the impossible choice facing many: surrender and be killed or desert and be hunted. For some, turning against their officers seems to be the only escape.

This toxic atmosphere has bred a surge in violent retaliation. Russian soldiers, driven to the brink by the realization that dying in a pointless assault is their fate if they continue, are increasingly likely to choose to kill their commanders instead, as it is safer than being spotted attempting to surrender to the Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, commanders themselves contribute to the decay by labeling active soldiers as deserters to avoid paying their wages, denying them medical care, and forcing under-equipped men into combat.

A recent appeal by the families of men from the Russian 54th Motorized Rifle Regiment revealed horrifying conditions: soldiers were beaten and handcuffed, robbed of personal belongings, and left to die without evacuation.

Wounded men are forced to crawl back to safety, and the dead are simply abandoned, confirmed by footage showing bodies of dead Russian soldiers that haven’t been moved for months since the snow covered the fields.

Million-man grave and rot within

The downward spiral is accelerating. Russian military losses have just surpassed one million casualties, including killed, wounded, and captured.

Equipment losses are equally staggering, with 10,000 destroyed and damaged tanks and over 20,000 armored vehicles of various types.

Lacking armor, modern vehicles, or meaningful support, commanders now rely on sheer manpower and suicidal frontal attacks to advance the line ever so slowly. But the more men are lost, the worse morale gets, and the more inclined troops are coming to view their superiors as the enemy instead of the Ukrainians they are forced to fight.

Overall, such events create a vicious cycle.

The collapse of discipline and the dehumanizing tactics employed by Russian commanders will inevitably lead to more incidents where soldiers turn their weapons on their leaders.

To prevent this, the officers are only doubling down on cruelty, inventing new, more barbaric punishments. This internal rot may not only undermine Russia’s ability to continue the war, but it could also ultimately sabotage its war effort from within.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Russia turns the war into a marathon of continuous arms production. Moscow produces more ammunition than all NATO countries combined, and does so many times faster, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London on 9 June. 

“In terms of ammunition, Russia produces in three months what the whole of NATO produces in a year,” said Rutte.

He added that Russia’s military machine is not slowing down. On the contrary, it is strengthening its potential. Russia is actively replenishing its arsenal with help from China, Iran, and North Korea. 

Rutte also noted that Russia is using Chinese technology to modernize its army.

“And its defence industrial base is expected to roll out 1,500 tanks, 3,000 armoured vehicles, and 200 Iskander missiles this year alone,” the NATO chief highlighted.

He warned that Russia could be ready for aggression against NATO within the next five years. According to Rutte, “President Putin does not act like someone who is interested in peace.” 

NATO needs to increase air and missile defence by 400% – Rutte says ahead of June summit

Thousands of tanks have been destroyed by drones in Ukraine, but British military expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon argues the tank is not obsolete—just outdated.

Writing in The Telegraph, the former commander of the UK’s Joint CBRN Regiment and NATO’s Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion argues that next-gen tanks equipped with electronic jammers and Active Defence Systems (ADS) can survive and dominate on today’s drone-filled battlefield.

“A properly equipped modern tank… will survive and win,” he writes, pointing to Israel’s Merkava tanks, which remain effective even under drone threat.

The tanks being destroyed in Ukraine, he notes, are mostly outdated Soviet models. Western forces must not assume the same fate for modern, tech-integrated armour.

War for the airwaves

Victory today often comes down to electronic dominance. Controlling the electromagnetic spectrum—jamming enemy signals while maintaining your own—can decide who controls the skies.

“He who controls this, controls the battle space and will win the war.”

Ukraine has shown how to fight in this space, using tools like Starlink and high-flying relay drones to outmaneuver Russian jamming. Some drones even use fibre-optic cables—an old but effective way to stay connected when signals fail.

“Old-fashioned methods are overcoming the latest and most brilliant electronic-warfare systems,” de Bretton-Gordon notes.

UK forces lag behind

Britain, he warns, is “almost totally unequipped” for this kind of warfare. With the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) due next week, de Bretton-Gordon says urgent action is needed.

“We need to be able to operate on a drone battlefield without being cut to pieces.”

He attributes the SDR’s delay to the sheer pace of change, not indecision—highlighting how quickly military tech becomes outdated.

Leadership still wins wars

Technology aside, strong field leadership remains essential. De Bretton-Gordon calls for renewed focus on Mission Command, the British Army’s tradition of empowering junior officers to act quickly without waiting for top-down orders.

“A commander who waits to hear back… when an opportunity appears… is not a real officer at all.”

The future is hybrid: steel and signal

For all the talk of drones and AI, war still comes down to fundamentals—adaptability, decision-making, and force protection.

“The principles of war have not changed… some of the new generation will dominate the electronic battlespace.”

And yes—they may still ride to war in tanks.

Switzerland’s federal government has approved on 28 May the sale of 71 Leopard 1 battle tanks by defense contractor Ruag MRO to Germany, while explicitly prohibiting their export to Ukraine, in line with Swiss neutrality laws. This was reported by SWI swissinfo.ch.

In 2023, Switzerland’s state-owned arms manufacturer Ruag sought to sell 96 Leopard 1 tanks to the German arms company Rheinmetall for eventual use in Ukraine. The tanks, acquired from the Italian Ministry of Defense in 2016, were originally purchased for resale or as a source of spare parts. They are currently stored in Italy.

However, the Swiss government blocked a proposed sale the same year of the tanks to Germany due to concerns they could be transferred to Ukraine. Swiss law prohibits the export of war matériel to countries involved in armed conflicts.

Following that decision, Ruag MRO submitted an application to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) for a license to carry out the sale. However, according to the federal government, no license is necessary in this case. Germany is listed among countries to which military matériel can be sold without requiring special authorization.

Despite the green light for the transaction with Germany, the tanks “may expressly not be sold to Ukraine,” the report noted.