Ukrainian forces using dummy HIMARS to lure Russian missiles - WP

Ukraine has tricked Russia into wasting expensive long-range cruise missiles on dummy targets that look like High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.

That's according to The Washington Post, Ukrinform reports.

The Ukrainian decoys are made out of wood but can be indistinguishable from an artillery battery through the lens of Russian drones, which transmit their locations to naval cruise missile carriers in the Black Sea, the report said.

A senior Ukrainian official who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity said that after a few weeks in the field, the decoys drew at least 10 Kalibr cruise missiles, an initial success that led Ukraine to expand the production of the replicas for broader use.

Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered his generals to prioritize the destruction of the long-range artillery systems after they struck key Russian supply lines.

"If the Russians think they hit a HIMARS, they will claim they hit a HIMARS," said George Barros, a military researcher at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank. "Russian forces very well may be overstating their battle damage assessments after hitting HIMAR decoys."

"They’ve claimed to have hit more HIMARS than we have even sent," one U.S. diplomat observed.

Earlier this month, a Pentagon spokesman categorically denied Russia’s claims, declaring all U.S.-provided HIMARS accounted for.

"We are aware of these latest claims by Minister Shoigu, and they are again patently false," said Todd Breasseale, the Pentagon’s acting spokesman. "What is happening, however, is that the Ukrainians are employing with devastating accuracy and effectiveness each of the fully accounted for precision missile systems."

Photo: Ukraine's General Staff (Russia's Kalibr cruise missile)