Vladimir Putin’s forces have been using so-called heavy-duty golf buggies on the front line in Ukraine, appearing to illustrate just how thin on the ground Russia‘s military resources are.
In November 2023, Moscow ordered 2,100 Desertcross 1000-3 all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) from Chinese firm Odes Industries and despite being modified for eastern European conditions, Ukrainian troops have managed to attack them.
Such is the ease with which Ukrainian forces have taken down the ATVs, its 47th Brigade has in recent months taken to Telegram to mock its poorly defended invaders.
Captioning a video that is too graphic to publish, the 47th Brigade wrote: “A short film about an elite Russian special forces that drove into Berdychi on a Chinese golf cart (no joke).
“At first, they even shot down our drone with a machine gun. Then they let out smoke, like in cool action movies, and ran to hide. Four hid in the remains of the foundation, one lay down in a ravine from the landing, and two sat under the affected equipment.
“All seven were eliminated by our kamikaze drones. The Russian elite did not live long, but died beautifully and in agony. One even burned down. The last one died especially epically. Be sure to watch the video until the end, you will like it”.
It should come as no surprise that open-topped unarmoured vehicles are ill-equipped for a war zone, and yet despite this, Russia‘s military command has deployed the ATVs across the entire front, according to Forbes.
Perhaps the meagre military hardware being used by Russian troops should come as no surprise, as the Kremlin is reported to be rapidly running out of money.
New analysis by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington DC-based think tank, indicates that although Russia has shown resilience in the face of the spiralling cost of war and Western sanctions, its economy is faltering.
According to Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center: “Russia‘s economy is now stable both in spite of and as a result of Western sanctions, but this hard-won stability is not eternal.”
The report notes an emergent “policy trilemma” for Putin, revolving around funding the military, maintaining living standards, and stabilising the economy.
“Temporary fixes and a decline in living standards will add to the political and economic headwinds facing the Kremlin,” Prokopenko warned.