Russian Troops Forced to Use Civilian Taxis for Evacuations on Donetsk Front

Russian forces in Ukraine are turning to civilian taxis to transport wounded soldiers from the front lines in the occupied Donetsk region, following a ban on the use of privately owned and humanitarian vehicles, reported The Moscow Times, citing a Russian military blogger on December 11.

Russian military blogger Daniil Bezsonov described how taxi cabs are used to transport injured Russian soldiers from evacuation points to hospitals.

“At the moment, our fighters are forced to rely on brave taxi drivers who agree to pick up the wounded from the evacuation point and transport them to the hospital,” he said.

“I am immensely grateful to the taxi drivers involved in this. I hope that using taxis won’t be prohibited,” he added.

This policy was reportedly introduced to curb accidents involving drunk drivers and created a logistical gap in the Russian army, as more than 90% of light vehicles at the front are privately owned or donated.

With these vehicles unavailable, some soldiers have resorted to using bicycles to transport ammunition, while others hide vehicles from their commanders to avoid confiscation.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations released an updated manual detailing procedures for digging mass graves during wartime.