Russia may be superior to Ukraine militarily, but in the latest sign that it is not yet out on the battlefield, a fleet of wooden vehicles resembling advanced US Hemaris missile systems tricked Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range cruise missiles on dummy targets, according to interviews with Senior US and Ukrainian officials.
The Washington Post report explained that the Ukrainian booby traps are vehicles made of wood but are indistinguishable from Himaris systems through the lens of Russian drones, which transmit their positions to destroyers launching naval cruise missiles in the Black Sea.
The senior Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that following a few weeks in the field, bogus decoys had attracted at least 10 Kalibr cruise missiles, an initial success that led Ukraine to expand production of replicas for wider use.
The previously unreported use of dummy vehicles of the missile system is one of the asymmetric tactics adopted by the Ukrainian armed forces to fight once morest a larger and better-equipped enemy.
In recent weeks, Kyiv agents have blown up railways and electricity lines in occupied Russian territory, detonated explosive devices inside Russian arms depots and assassinated suspected collaborators.
The destruction of Ukrainian camouflaged vehicles may be responsible in part for Russia’s extraordinarily optimistic assessments of the destruction of Western artillery and particularly the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. One US diplomat noted: “They claimed to have hit the Himaris systems more than the ones they sent to Ukraine.”
The ways Ukraine has taken to protect Western-supplied missile systems underscore their importance on the battlefield.
The missile systems are credited with hindering Russia’s progress in the east and south by giving Ukraine the ability to strike from 50 miles away, destroying hundreds of high-value Russian targets, including supply lines, weapons depots, logistical, support, and defense centers, according to US officials.
Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered his generals to prioritize destroying long-range artillery systems following they hit major Russian supply lines. Almost every week, Shoigu and other Russian defense officials announce successful new strikes on Western-supplied missile systems, including the lightweight US HIMARS.
And earlier this month, a Pentagon spokesperson categorically denied Russia’s allegations, declaring that all US-supplied Himaris systems were operational.
“We are aware of these latest allegations by Minister Shoigu, and they are clearly false. However, what is happening is that the Ukrainians are accurately and effectively using devastating precision missile systems,” said Todd Preseli, acting Pentagon spokesman.
The Pentagon says it has supplied 16 HIMARS systems to Ukraine since the start of the war. US allies provided M270 missile systems that had similar functions. It was not possible to independently verify the number of systems destroyed.
Experts say the Russian custom of decorating performance on the battlefield is not new, but experts say Himaris systems’ decoys may be responsible for Russian exaggeration.
