Russia likely to fly decoy balloons over Ukraine: UK

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To Mark Moore

February 19, 2023 | 2:48 PM

Russia will likely deploy balloons over Ukraine to gather intelligence on its own defense systems and act as decoys to force the military to run out of valuable missiles and shoot them down, the British Defense Ministry said on Sunday. Stated.

In an intelligence update posted on Twitter, The British Ministry of Defense said balloons Or a “balloon-shaped object” was spotted over Ukraine last week. This is a clear change in tactics on the part of the Russian army.

“The balloon was likely Russian-made. It likely represents a new tactic by Russia to obtain information on Ukrainian air defense systems and force Ukraine to consume valuable stocks of surface-to-air missiles and ammunition. ‘ said the warning.

The defense ministry said Ukrainian forces spotted balloons with radar reflectors over Kiev on February 15 and shot down at least six of them.

More balloons were spotted over Dnipropetrovsk on February 12th.

And on February 14, a “balloon-shaped” object blocked Moldovan airspace for several hours.

“There is a real possibility that this is a Russian balloon drifting out of Ukrainian airspace,” the ministry said.

Colonel Margo Grosbart, head of the Estonian Defense Forces, said last week that Russia appears to be using relatively cheap weather balloons to probe air defense systems and force the military to spend ammunition.

“This wastes anti-aircraft weapons and exhausts the crew. It also allows you to see where the missiles are coming from so you can see the consequences of the actions of the anti-aircraft crew,” he said.

Grossberg about the use of balloons This was a new development in the war, and I suspected that Russia had borrowed the idea from China.

The Chinese balloon was first detected entering US airspace near Alaska on January 28, but its presence was not made public until February 1, when it was spotted over Montana.

We passed through several Midwestern states until two US Air Force fighter jets landed. Shot down on February 4th Off the coast of South Carolina.

Since then, off the north coast of Alaska, the Yukon Territory of Canada, and Over Lake Huron Near the Canadian border.

of The Biden administration stated three objectives It seemed to belong not to Chinese reconnaissance aircraft, but to private companies, research and recreational companies.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Inat said the military is more interested in bringing ballistic missiles into the country than Russia is flying weather balloons into its airspace.

“They are trying to distract us.” Inato told the Washington Post Last week, Russia pointed out that Ukrainian forces wanted to open fire on them and reveal their location.

But he said the Ukrainian military knows the difference between balloons and drones.

“These are not new. They are your grandfather’s methods invented during the Soviet era,” he said.