Russia appears to be stepping up its use of decoy drones to outwit Ukrainian air defenses

• Russia is intensifying its use of drone attacks against Ukraine.
• It’s using decoy drones to outwit Ukrainian defenses, according to the ISW.
• Around half the drones used to attack Ukraine are decoy drones, a report said.

Russia is stepping up its use of decoy drones to distract Ukrainian air defenses in mass aerial attacks, according to The Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

It comes as both Ukraine and Russia ratchet up their drone and missile strikes.

In the latest attack, Russia launched a record 188 Shahed drones at Ukraine on Monday night and early Tuesday, Ukraine said.

The ISW, a Washington, DC-based think tank that monitors the conflict, said that Ukraine reported around half of the drones used in the attack had gotten lost.

This, said the ISW’s analysts, suggests that “Russian forces likely used a large number of decoy drones to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.”

It said that Russia “will likely continue to use decoy drones and experiment with varying strike packages to increase the effectiveness of long-range strikes against Ukraine ahead of and during the winter.”

In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its aerial attacks on Ukraine, likely with the goal of debilitating Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the cold winter months.

Ukraine uses a mixture of air defense missile systems and electronic warfare technology to counter the attacks.

But Russia has used a variety of tactics to overcome Ukrainian air defenses, striking Ukraine with a variety of drones and missiles at the same time and using decoys to create holes to exploit.

The Associated Press in November found that Russia was using swarms of fake drones to surround deadly thermobaric drones, which are highly destructive.

A source, described as familiar with a secret Russian munitions factory where the drones are made, told the outlet that around half the drones now targeting Ukraine are decoys.

The thermobaric drones create a high-pressure vortex capable of penetrating thick walls and causing injuries including collapsed lungs, crushed eyeballs, and brain damage, the AP said.

It’s unclear if thermobaric drones were among the weapons used in the strikes on November 25-26.