Ukraine used mannequins to fool Russian reconnaissance – crucial in liberation of Kharkiv Oblast
Defenders of Kharkiv strategically placed dummy soldiers armed with rifles to deceive the occupiers at the outset of the full-scale invasion as most of Russia’s reconnaissance relied on aerial information, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) head Kirill Budanov disclosed in a documentary project by Dmytro Komarov titled "Year: Kharkiv Region."
"Most of the [Russian] reconnaissance relied on aerial and space reconnaissance. It's challenging to distinguish between a live person and a mannequin from above. Such tricks are still widely used today."
Commander of the 127th Separate Brigade, Roman Gryshchuk, also shed light on the use of mannequins, each with their own names assigned by different units, to deceive the enemy. "In Kharkiv, this tactic was heavily employed. Each unit had names for these mannequins, like 'Zhorik' or 'Vanya.’"
Commander of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, Pavlo Fedosenko, described the power imbalance at the beginning of the invasion: "They [Russians] outnumbered us in terms of equipment by a factor of twenty and in terms of personnel by a factor of ten."
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was genuine belief in Moscow that Kharkiv was a pro-Russian city and could be taken quickly and without resistance. "They genuinely believed that Kharkiv was a Russian city just waiting for 'liberators.' That's actually true."
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