Russia deploys mannequin soldiers to deceive Ukrainian drones
The recording shared by Russian channels on Telegram shows mannequins lined up in uniforms. It's part of a larger Kremlin plan. According to The Telegraph, these "dummy soldiers" are meant to be lures.
7:33 AM EDT, October 19, 2024
Videos shared online show mannequins dressed in military uniforms, lined up near tires in a wooded area. One of them is holding a weapon.
Drone decoys
There are suspicions that Russians want to confuse Ukrainian FPV (First Person View) drones with these decoys.
Keir Giles, a Russia expert from the Chatham House think tank, stated that the decoys fit to "the trend of war becoming so much more personalized." Drones are increasingly targeting individual soldiers, and both Ukrainians and Russians publish recordings of these attacks.
Russians often pretend to be dead when they see a Ukrainian FPV drone in the sky.
"The mannequins may be an effective way to sow doubt in the minds of drone operators as to whether they are attacking the correct target," added Giles.
The Telegraph notes that Russia's war in Ukraine has become a testing ground for the most advanced military technology. FPV drones can get incredibly close to their targets, giving operators an unprecedented view of the objective.
Drones have revolutionized combat
Using decoys in war is nothing new. Russians have employed this tactic from the beginning. In October 2023, at the Engels airbase in Saratov Oblast, soldiers painted aircraft on the tarmac. This was intended to deceive Ukrainian drones into hitting the painted planes instead of real ones.
A few days ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded a medal to a 25-year-old drone operator credited with killing as many as 400 Russians.
