Ukraine may be numerically inferior to the Russian army, but it was definitely not outmaneuvered. A fleet of fakes that look like American HIMARS systems tricked Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range cruise missiles on fake targets..

The Washington Post writes about this, citing American and Ukrainian officials.. In addition, the journalists of the publication saw photos of HIMARS replicas, which the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation called a priority target.. Lures are made of wood. But if you look at them through the lenses of Russian drones, they are no different from real combat vehicles.. Drones transmitted coordinates to carriers of cruise missiles in the Black Sea for strikes.

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Wooden HIMARS have been deployed at the front for several weeks. During this time, they forced Moscow to use 10 Kalibr missiles. This initial success convinced Ukraine to expand production of replicas for wider applications.. The destruction of the fakes may partly explain Russia's boast about the alleged destruction of a large number of artillery systems that the West handed over, in particular to HIMARS..

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The publication notes that Moscow traditionally exaggerates its military successes.. And it's not new. But experts concede that Ukrainian allurements could be causing an extreme gap between Russian claims and reality..

“If the Russians think they destroyed HIMARS, they claim that they destroyed HIMARS. It is very likely that Russian forces are exaggerating their damage estimates by hitting fakes,” explained George Barros, a military researcher at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)..

US defense officials said Russia's stockpile of precision-guided missiles is very low. And the US ban on exporting microchips to Russia “makes it very difficult” to restock these missiles,” said US Under Secretary of Defense for Political Affairs Colin Kahl..

“A Kalibr missile fired at a fake HIMARS in the field is a missile that will not be used against a Ukrainian city,” explained Rob Lee, a military analyst at the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies..

Another advantage of the fake is that it can make the Russians be more careful and place their ammunition depots and command centers further away from the front lines, outside the range of HIMARS..

“This reorganization reduces Russia’s ability to deliver massive artillery fire, which helped seize territories in eastern Ukraine,” Barros said..