The Russians used expensive Kalibr missiles to hit wooden mock-ups, which they mistook, in particular, for advanced American HIMARS missile systems.
Source: The Washington Post, citing a Ukrainian official and an American diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity
Details: According to media reports, Ukrainian defenders made wooden “decoys” that, through the lens of Russian drones, resembled advanced American missile systems. UAVs transmitted data on the location of “techniques” to missile carriers in the Black Sea, which attacked the models, mistaking them for “VIP targets”.
Verbatim WP: “After several weeks in the field, the decoys “extracted” (from the Russian Federation – ed.) at least 10 Kalibr cruise missiles — an initial success that forced Ukraine to expand the production of copies for wider use.”
Details: WP notes that the use of decoys is one of many tactics used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to repel a larger and better equipped enemy.
According to an American diplomat cited by WP, the fact that the Russians reported the destruction of more HIMARS than Ukraine actually received can partly be explained by strikes on fictitious targets.
We will remind: In August, Forbes estimated that the cost of one Kalibr missile is $6.5 million.
Source: Ukrainian pravda