Comment on Ukraine, I Think It's Going to Be A Long Thread For A While Jump In by rick

Parent Post: Ukraine, I Think It's Going to Be A Long Thread For A While Jump In

rick · 6/4/2025, 5:34:15 PM · permalink

I don't know if the photos are old or new haven't been able to find corroborating articles. The propaganda has been massive almost overwhelming in this war. 
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Link to full article below.
![image](https://us-lax-1.linodeobjects.com/sojooo/comments/1278/1749058455165-9e609f65b19db893.png)
Tu-22M bombers covered with objects are seen at Belaya airbase on May 20, 2025. Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies

Jun 4, 2025, 11:55 AM CT

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Satellite images show Russia tried using deceptive tactics at the airbases Ukraine attacked Sunday.

These tactics included placing tires on wings and painting fake decoy planes on the ground.

It's a playbook that Moscow has used throughout the war to try to protect its airbases.

Satellite imagery of the four Russian airbases that were attacked by Ukraine on Sunday shows how Moscow attempted to use deceptive tactics to protect its strategic bomber fleet.

The images, captured by US commercial satellite imaging company Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider, show that Russia had many of its bombers covered with tires and other objects in the days and weeks before the Ukrainian operation.

Moscow's forces also painted fake aircraft on the tarmac and used debris to create decoy planes.

Ukraine's SBU, its internal security agency, said it used small quadcopter drones to hit 41 Russian aircraft in the daring operation, more than 18 months in the making. These aircraft include A-50 airborne early warning and control planes, An-12 transporters, Il-78 refueling tankers, and Tu-95, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 bombers.

The drones struck airbases across Russia, specifically Belaya in the Irkutsk region, Olenya in the Murmansk region, Dyagilevo in the Ryazan region, and Ivanovo in the Ivanovo region. Ukrainka in the Amur region was reportedly targeted but not hit.

Different types of deception tactics can be seen in satellite imagery of all five sites at various points in time before the attack.

Tu-160 bombers with objects on their wings are seen on the tarmac at Belaya airbase on May 20 next to a decoy aircraft painted on the tarmac.

Tires and objects are seen on Tu-22 aircraft at Russia's Belaya airbase on May 20.

Brady Africk, an open-source intelligence analyst, told BI that since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Moscow's forces have "added flat decoy aircraft to many air bases and placed tires on top of parked planes in an effort to confuse the targeting systems of Ukrainian weapons."

Africk said the new satellite imagery shows that Russia also "placed debris on top of flat decoys and positioned solid objects on the ground in the rough shape of aircraft" in what looks like an "apparent attempt to increase the chances of misleading Ukrainian weapons."

A decoy Tu-22 aircraft is seen with debris on top at Russia's Belaya airbase on May 20.

A decoy aircraft is seen at Russia's Beyala airbase on May 20.

Africk said that Russia's flat decoy aircraft — in some cases, they are just simple silhouettes; in others, they are painted to look like the planes they're intended to resemble — aren't easily seen in the radar-based satellite imagery that the Ukrainian military is understood to use.

"It is clear from the number of aircraft destroyed that Ukraine's attack on these bases was very successful, despite Russia's attempts at deception," he said.

New video footage from the attack shows drones striking aircraft with tires in place.  
https://www.businessinsider.com/images-russian-tire-tactic-fake-planes-ukrainian-drone-attack-2025-6

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