A battlefield encounter between a Ukrainian drone and a Russian soldier on horseback ended in victory for modern weaponry over centuries-old tactics.

Russia’s invasion has seen technological advances that have changed the nature of warfare, from the ubiquitous use of drones to hypersonic missiles.

Yet Russia’s shortage of military vehicles means that some of President Putin’s troops are trying to use horses to avoid getting stuck in the mud as they launch assaults on Ukrainian lines.

Two soldiers in camouflage and helmets ride a brown horse.

Putin calls up mounted troops

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Russian soldier on horseback in a snowy landscape.

Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade said in a comment on social media: “The finale is quite predictable: the enemy’s so-called cavalry is destroyed by the precise strikes of our drones.”

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It published a video on December 26 showing a remotely piloted Ukrainian first person view drone [FPV] swooping on a Russian soldier on horseback in an undisclosed area of the battlefield. The soldier fell off the horse, after which the explosives-packed drone crashed into him. Further FPV drone video showed the soldier’s body lying in the snow.

“Thanks to the professionalism of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade’s drone operator, not a single horse was injured,” the brigade added.

However, another video shared by the brigade seemed to show that a horse was injured or killed in an explosion alongside the Russian soldier it was carrying. The fate of a third mounted soldier was unclear.

The prevalence of Russian and Ukrainian FPV drones has created a vast “kill zone” where nothing can move without being targeted.

Russian war correspondent Semyon Pegov at a meeting in Moscow.

Semyon Pegov, a pro-war Russian blogger

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Russian soldiers were first reported to be training horseback troops in October. Semyon Pegov, a pro-war Russian blogger, said a commander identified only as “Khan” had begun using horses to carry out combat missions.

“Horses see well at night, don’t need roads to accelerate on the final approach and their instincts can, reportedly, help them avoid mines,” he wrote. He shared a video showing mounted troops galloping across countryside accompanied by Russian drones.

Russian soldier with horses and donkeys in a snowy, bare tree landscape.

Besides horses, Russian soldiers have been using donkeys to transport ammunition between their lines.

Viktor Sobolev, a retired general who is now a member of the Russian parliament’s defence committee, said in February: “It’s better for a donkey to be killed than two people transporting supplies in a vehicle.”