dummies? Supposedly Russian rubber tanks blown away

Inflatable dummy Russian tanks are said to have been discovered in Ukraine. This is reported by the military staff.

The Military Staff of Ukraine has released photos allegedly showing inflatable Russian dummy tanks. The military wrote on Facebook: “While our partners agree to the supply of tanks to Ukraine, the occupying army is also increasing the presence of ‘tank units’ in the Zaporizhia direction.” The word armored units was in quotation marks.

Because according to Ukrainian information, it is rubber tanks that were apparently blown away by the strong wind in the region. The photos themselves are taken from the air. They show rather indistinct green structures in an embankment near a road. A lighter circular area indicates that it was previously covered by grass. The recordings could not be independently confirmed.

It has long been known that Russia is apparently artificially inflating its armored divisions. The BBC reported back in 2010 on tanks and anti-missile systems sewn together from fabric and plastic that look real from a distance. “These state-of-the-art decoys are among the most advanced military decoys in the world – much lighter, handier and more mobile than the rubber versions used in WWII,” wrote the BBC. Even MiG fighter jets are said to have been replicated.

According to a report by the Washington Post, Ukraine is also said to be working with replicas. Photos available to the newspaper are said to show wooden dummies of missile defense systems that were probably set up in the war zone. They were designed to fool expensive Russian drones and missiles. Russia is said to have wasted at least ten Kalibr missiles in this way, the report said.

The use of dummy tanks is almost as old as the combat devices themselves. Germany had training devices built in 1927 because the Treaty of Versailles did not allow them to own real tanks. Dummies were best known for Operation Fortitude during World War II. The Allies set up fake tanks, planes and guns and even a fictional army unit in 1943 to fool Germany where an invasion is supposed to take place. During the Kosovo war, battle tanks belonging to the Serbian troops that were discovered on aerial photos turned out to be fakes from Tetra Pak packaging.