Russia Destroys Another Decoy MLRS Proving Maskirovka is Alive and Well in Ukraine
I get a warm, fuzzy feeling every time Russia hits a $1,000 balloon with a $3 million Iskander-M missile.
Ever since Russia performed its “little green men” invasion of the Donbas and Crimea in 2014, the world has had a front-row seat to the concept, and the power, of military deception.
Historically, Russia has been an expert practitioner of the art of deception. From the 1944 Operation Bagration in Belarus to the military intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968, Russia has repeatedly achieved surprise in both war and peacetime.
The literal English translation of the Russian ‘maskirovka’ (маскировка) is “little masquerade,” but there’s nothing little about it — this doctrine covers a broad range of military deception measures.
Once a means to create advantageous conditions on the battlefield, maskirovka evolved to create ambiguity and uncertainty in the operating environment to enable freedom of action for the Russian military.
After the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, it was clear that Russian special forces had seized government buildings.
But Putin gave a news conference the following day denying that Russian soldiers were in the country.
