The Russians are using decoy missiles to deplete Ukrainian air defenses, but not very successfully – ISW

ISW spoke about the actions of the Russians/Collage 24 Channel (Photo of the General Staff and occupiers)

Russian occupiers during the attack on Kyiv On December 8, decoy missiles were used. The enemy's goal was to confuse and exhaust Ukraine's air defense.

Analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War explained whether the invaders succeeded. They analyzed the first Russian missile attack on Ukraine in almost 80 days.

What ISW is saying about the Russian missile attack on Kiev

ISW analysts, citing yet another Russian military blogger, said that Russian decoy missiles were unable to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses during massive missile attacks on Kiev on December 8.

Enemy bloggers said Russian forces were using Kh-55 decoy cruise missiles, which closely resemble an upgraded version of the Kh-101 missile, to confuse Ukrainian air defenses.

The use of decoy missiles was the reason that Russian missiles were unable to successfully hit any target in Kiev and were shot down by air defenses. A Russian blogger complained that it was “virtually impossible” for Russian troops to launch enough Kh-55 decoy missiles to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses due to limited numbers of Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers, analysts said.

They also explained that they had also previously used the Kh-55 missiles, along with other variants of missiles and drones, as bait to overcome Ukrainian air defenses and compensate for the decline in the supply of precision-guided missiles.

The Ukrainian side explains the actions of the enemy

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly emphasized that Ukrainian forces do not have enough air defense systems to cover the entire territory of Ukraine as tightly as Kiev is closed.

Our military observer Konstantin Mashovets 8 December said Russian troops were conducting intensified aerial reconnaissance ahead of large-scale long-range strikes against targets in eastern and southern Ukraine. According to him:

• Russian troops made seven reconnaissance flights before the December 8 missile attacks. This is a significant increase from 2 to 3 flights in previous days;
• occupiers attempt to counter Ukraine's limited air defenses ahead of an expected large-scale winter strike campaign.

The West announced the beginning of a “winter campaign of strikes” against Ukraine

• Russian occupiers fired 19 X-101/X-555 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers across Ukraine on the morning of December 8th. To do this, the Russians attracted 7 aircraft from the Saratov region.
• Enemies in the Dnepropetrovsk region tried to hit infrastructure facilities. Our military shot down 14 out of 19 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles in the Dnepropetrovsk and Kyiv regions. Unfortunately, in the Pavlograd district of the Dnepropetrovsk region, a person died and eight were wounded.
• Sky News wrote that the West is convinced that Russia has already begun a “winter campaign of strikes” against Ukraine. After all, the enemy used heavy bomber aircraft to attack Kyiv. By the way, Russia has not deployed or used the Tu-95MS for the last few months.