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Ukrainian Forces Fool Russians Into Wasting Missiles on Fake U.S. Rocket Systems

The HIMARS decoys are being built from wood, according to reports.

Ukraine is tricking Russian forces into wasting its expensive long-range missiles on blowing up dummy replicas of U.S. rocket systems, The Washington Post reports. The decoys are designed to be indistinguishable from real High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) when spotted from the air by Russian drones. It’s thought the dummy targets may partially explain apparently exaggerated Russian claims of damage inflicted on the U.S.-supplied weapons systems in Ukraine. “They’ve claimed to have hit more HIMARS than we have even sent,” one unnamed American diplomat told the Post. The fake rocket trucks are one of asymmetric warfare tactics being used by Ukrainian forces to resist Vladimir Putin’s invasion. In recent weeks, Kyiv loyalists have also assassinated suspected Russian collaborators, destroyed power and transport links in occupied territory, and spectacularly blown up Russian ammunition dumps.