AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko
- Several Russian officials are defending military use of donkeys after images of the pack animals went viral.
- Pro-war bloggers said the donkeys are being used to transport ammo and supplies to front-line units.
- One parliament official said Russia is experiencing “very significant difficulties” with logistics.
Donkeys are starting to appear among the Kremlin’s invasion forces, with Russian media and war commentators reporting that the animals are used to ferry ammunition and supplies.
The spotlight on the pack animals comes as the Ukraine war continues to strain resources on both sides, and as Russia’s ability to sustain its cornered economy — now increasingly reliant on defense manufacturing — remains in question. Its full-scale invasion is set to enter its fourth year on February 24.
Pro-Kremlin military bloggers published footage last week of soldiers interacting with donkeys, saying they were deployed as pack transport. Business Insider could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.
“The guys in one of the directions were given a donkey for logistics. A real donkey,” wrote one military blogger who posted a photo of a donkey standing next to a uniformed man.
“What did you expect? Vehicles are in short supply these days!” wrote another Russian commentator, Kirill Federov.
A widely circulated voice note, which Russian bloggers said was from a soldier on the front lines, said the donkeys were not provided by volunteers but by Russia’s Defense Ministry. However, the ministry has not publicly addressed the claim.
Federov and several other bloggers also posted an image of three armed people in uniform posing with a camel.
It’s unclear how widely the donkeys are being deployed, but several Russian officials publicly defended the practice when the images went viral among military bloggers.
“There’s nothing wrong with this,” Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma’s defense committee, told the Russian outlet Gazeta. The State Duma is the lower house of Russia’s national legislature.
Sobolev, a retired lieutenant general of the Russian army, cited ” very significant difficulties in supplying units and subdivisions” with ammo and food. He said pack-animal transport was a valid solution, and that losing a donkey would be better for the Russian military than losing troops or transport vehicles.
“During the Great Patriotic War, part of our artillery was horse-drawn,” Sobolev added, referring to World War II.
Another member of the State Duma defense committee, Viktor Zavarin, told the Russian TV network RTVI: “Let it work, let the donkeys help the victory.”
The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by BI.
Meanwhile, the appearance of the donkeys has triggered a deluge of satirical memes in both Russia and Ukraine, such as a comic panel about a Soviet version of the donkey character Eeyore from the cartoon “Winnie the Pooh” being mobilized for the war.
Two Majors, a popular pro-war Russian military blogger, asked on Telegram if donkeys that gave birth in service would have their offspring considered state-owned property.
“If one is captured by an enemy sabotage group, will it be considered missing in action or a prisoner of war?” they wrote.
