The Deceptive Art of War: Ukraine's Innovative Decoy Strategies

Sat Sep 13 2025 16:30:43 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

As the conflict in Ukraine continues, both sides employ clever strategies using decoys to mislead and exhaust each other's resources. This article explores how inflatable tanks, plywood models, and fake drones are now part of the warfare landscape.

In the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the use of decoys has become a significant tactical advantage. From inflatable tanks to flat-pack artillery models, Ukrainian forces are deploying various ingenious imitations of their military assets to confuse enemy forces. These strategies aim to waste enemy ammunition and resources while appearing to maintain a strong front, demonstrating that even simple deceptions can have strategic impacts in modern warfare.

Inflatable Tanks and Flat-pack Guns - Inside Ukraine's Decoy War

In June 2023, a video started spreading on pro-war Russian social media channels, apparently showing a drone destroying a Ukrainian tank in a massive explosion. But not everything is what it seems in the Russia-Ukraine war. That video was followed by Ukrainian footage showing a laughing soldier pointing at the burning wreckage and exclaiming: They've hit my wooden tank! The tank in question appears to be a plywood decoy used by the Ukrainian forces to deceive the Russians.

It is one of many thousands of full-scale models of military equipment used by both Ukraine and Russia to trick the enemy into wasting valuable ammunition, time and effort. Almost anything seen on the frontline - from small radars and grenade launchers to jeeps, trucks, tanks and actual soldiers - may be fake. These imitations can come in flat-packs, be inflatable, 2D or create a radar illusion of a tank by reflecting radio waves in a special way. In the case of some weapon types deployed in Ukraine, at least half of them are actually decoy imitations.

Flat-pack Artillery

Among the most popular decoys used by the Ukrainian army are models of the British-made M777 howitzers. Western allies are understood to have supplied Kyiv with more than 150 of these highly manoeuvrable and accurate artillery pieces, nicknamed Three Axes by Ukrainian soldiers. As with many other types of equipment used by the Ukrainian army, volunteers play an important role in supplying decoy mock-ups.

Ruslan Klimenko says his volunteer group Na Chasi alone has made and supplied to Ukrainian forces about 160 models of M777s. What makes them particularly popular is that they take three minutes, two people and no tools to assemble on the front line. Pavlo Narozhny from another group of volunteers, called Reaktyvna Poshta, says that at any given time 10-15 M777 decoys are in production. Reaktyvna Poshta's decoys are made of plywood, come in flat packs and cost about $500 - $600.

Russia often targets them with Lancet kamikaze drones costing about $35,000, making the math advantageous.

Wheel Ruts and Toilets

Much depends on how decoys are deployed. To successfully draw enemy fire, it helps to recreate a real position complete with wheel ruts, ammunition crates and toilets. One officer from Ukraine's 33rd Detached Mechanised Brigade states that another tactic involves quickly removing real cannons after use and replacing them with decoys. They're ideal for deceiving the enemy and wasting their expensive resources on nothing. They work, we need more of them, he concludes.

The conflict has also seen Russia using similar tactics, including fake drones designed to confuse Ukraine's air defenses. As critical resources run low, these deceptive practices are more than just tactics; they are a survival strategy. Deception and trickery will always play a significant role in warfare, including modern tactics that echo historical precedents.