- Several Russian officials defend the military use of donkeys after images of the pack animals have become viral.
- Professional bloggers have said that donkeys are used to transport ammunition and supplies to front line units.
- An official of the Parliament said that Russia was experiencing “very important difficulties” with logistics.
Donkeys are starting to appear among the invasion forces of the Kremlin, the Russian media and war commentators reporting that animals are used to transport ammunition and supplies.
The spotlights on the animal’s peloton occur while the Ukraine war continues to subject the resources on both sides, and as Russia’s ability to support its cornered economy – now increasingly dependent on defense manufacturing – remains in question. Its large -scale invasion should enter its fourth year on February 24.
Pro-Kremlin military bloggers published images last week of soldiers interacting with donkeys, saying that they had been deployed as a pack transport. Business Insider could not independently check the authenticity of the images.
“The guys from one of the directions received a donkey for logistics. A real donkey,” wrote a military blogger who published a photo of a donkey standing next to a uniform man.
“What were you expecting? The vehicles are shortened these days!” wrote another Russian commentator, Kirill Federov.
A widely disseminated voice note, which, according to Russian bloggers, came from a soldier on the front line, said that donkeys had not been provided by volunteers but by the Ministry of Defense of Russia. However, the ministry did not publicly address the complaint.
Federov and several other bloggers also published an image of three uniform armed people posing with a camel.
We do not know how largely deployed donkeys, but several Russian officials have publicly defended the practice when the images have become viral among military bloggers.
“There is nothing wrong with that,” said Viktor Sobolev, member of the Duma State Defense Committee, at the Russian exit Gazeta. The Duma of the State is the national legislature of the lower chamber of Russia.
Sobolev, a Russian army retired lieutenant, cited “very important difficulties in providing units and subdivisions” with ammunition and food. He said that pack-animal transport was a valid solution and that the loss of a donkey would be better for the Russian army than loss of troops or transport vehicles.
“During the Great Patriotic War, part of our artillery was drawn on horses,” added Sobolev, referring to the Second World War.
Another member of the Duma State Defense Committee, Viktor Zavarin, told the Russian RTVI television network: “Let it work, let donkeys help victory.”
The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comments sent outside regular work hours by BI.
Meanwhile, the appearance of donkeys sparked a deluge of satirical memes in Russia and Ukraine, like a panel of comics on a Soviet version of the Eeyore Donkey character “Winnie the Pooh” mobilizing for the war.
Two majors, a pro-popular Russian military blogger, asked on Telegram if donkeys who gave birth would have their offspring considered as a public property.
“If we are captured by an enemy sabotage group, will he be considered missing in action or a prisoner of war?” They wrote.
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