‘Kitty, can you play chess?
Now, don’t smile, my dear,
I’m asking it seriously.
Because, when we were playing just now,
you watched just as if
you understood it:
and when I said “Check!”
you purred!
Well, it was a nice check, Kitty,
and really I might have won,
if it hadn’t been
for that nasty Knight,
that came wriggling down
among my pieces.
Kitty, dear,
let’s pretend –’
In June 2023.
A video started spreading.
On pro-war ‘orcs’.
Social media channels.
Apparently showing.
A drone destroying.
An ‘elves’ tank.
In a massive explosion.
And here I wish
I could tell you half the things
Alice used to say, beginning
with her favourite phrase
‘Let’s pretend.’
She had had quite a long
argument with her sister
only the day before
But not everything.
Is what it seems.
But not everything.
In the ‘Mordor’-Ukraine war.
That video was followed.
By ‘elves’ footage showing.
A laughing soldier pointing.
At the burning wreckage.
And exclaiming:
“They’ve hit my wooden tank!”
And exclaiming:
“They’ve hit my wooden tank!”
‘Let’s pretend that
you’re the Red Queen, Kitty!
Do you know, I think
if you sat up and folded your arms,
you’d look exactly like her.
Now do try, there’s a dear!’
And Alice got the Red Queen off the table,
and set it up before the kitten
The tank in question.
Appears to be.
A plywood decoy.
Used by the ‘elves’ forces.
A plywood decoy.
Used by the ‘elves’ forces.
To deceive the ‘orcs’.
To deceive the ‘orcs’.
you’d look exactly like her.
Now do try, there’s a dear!’
And Alice got the Red Queen off the table,
and set it up before the kitten
as a model for it
to imitate: however,
the thing didn’t succeed,
principally, Alice said,
It is one of many thousands.
Of full-scale models of.
Military equipment used by.
Both Ukraine and ‘Mordor’.
To trick the enemy.
Into wasting.
Valuable ammunition.
Time and effort.
as a model for it
to imitate: however,
the thing didn’t succeed,
principally, Alice said,
because the kitten wouldn’t
fold its arms properly.
So, to punish it,
So, to punish it,
Almost anything.
Seen on the frontline.
– from small radars.
And grenade launchers.
To jeeps, trucks.
Tanks and actual soldiers –
May be fake.
May be fake.
because the kitten wouldn’t
fold its arms properly.
So, to punish it,
So, to punish it,
she held it up
to the Looking-glass,
that it might see
how sulky it was
These imitations can.
Come in flat-packs.
Be inflatable, 2D.
Or create.
A radar illusion.
Of a tank by.
Reflecting radio waves.
In a special way.
she held it up
to the Looking-glass,
that it might see
how sulky it was
– ‘and if you’re not good directly,’
she added, ‘I’ll put you
through into Looking-glass House.
How would you like that?
In the case of.
Some weapon types.
Deployed in Ukraine.
Deployed in Ukraine.
At least half.
Of them are actually.
Decoy imitations.
Decoy imitations.
– ‘and if you’re not good directly,’
she added, ‘I’ll put you
through into Looking-glass House.
How would you like that?
‘Now, if you’ll only attend,
Kitty, and not talk so much,
I’ll tell you all my ideas
about Looking-glass House.
Among the most popular decoys.
Used by the ‘elves’ army are.
Models of the British-made.
M777 howitzers.
Western allies are understood.
To have supplied Kyiv.
With more than 150.
Of these highly.
Manoeuvrable and.
Accurate artillery pieces.
Nicknamed “Three Axes”.
By ‘elves’ soldiers.
‘Let’s pretend that
you’re the Red Queen, Kitty!
Do you know, I think
if you sat up and folded your arms,
you’d look exactly like her.
Now do try, there’s a dear!’
And Alice got the Red Queen off the table,
and set it up before the kitten
As with many other types.
Of equipment used by.
The ‘elves’ army.
Volunteers play.
Volunteers play.
An important role.
In supplying.
Decoy mock-ups.
you’d look exactly like her.
Now do try, there’s a dear!’
And Alice got the Red Queen off the table,
and set it up before the kitten
as a model for it
to imitate: however,
the thing didn’t succeed,
principally, Alice said,
He says his volunteer group.
Alone has made and.
Supplied to ‘elves’ forces.
About 160 models of M777s.
What makes them particularly.
Popular is the fact that.
They take three minutes.
Two people and.
They take three minutes.
Two people and.
No tools to assemble.
On the front line.
“No matter how many.
Are delivered.
All will be put to.
Good use.”
as a model for it
to imitate: however,
the thing didn’t succeed,
principally, Alice said,
because the kitten wouldn’t
fold its arms properly.
So, to punish it,
So, to punish it,
A man from another group.
Of volunteers says that.
At any given time 10-15.
M777 decoys are in production.
His group’s decoys are.
Made of plywood.
Come in flat packs and cost.
About $500 – $600.
‘Orcs’ often targets them.
With Lancet kamikaze drones.
Costing about $35,000.
“You do the math.”
because the kitten wouldn’t
fold its arms properly.
So, to punish it,
So, to punish it,
she held it up
to the Looking-glass,
that it might see
how sulky it was
One of his M777 decoys.
Nicknamed Tolya.
Has spent more than a year.
On the frontline.
Surviving hits with.
At least 14 Lancets.
Troops “keep putting it.
Back together with.”
“Some sticky tape.
And screws.
And back off.
To the frontline it goes”.
she held it up
to the Looking-glass,
that it might see
how sulky it was
– ‘and if you’re not good directly,’
she added, ‘I’ll put you
through into Looking-glass House.
How would you like that?
Much depends on.
How decoys are deployed.
To successfully draw.
Enemy fire.
It helps to faithfully.
Recreate a real position.
Complete with wheel ruts.
Ammunition crates and toilets.
When properly done.
This can deceive.
Not just the enemy.
But visiting officers too.
– ‘and if you’re not good directly,’
she added, ‘I’ll put you
through into Looking-glass House.
How would you like that?
‘Now, if you’ll only attend,
Kitty, and not talk so much,
I’ll tell you all my ideas
about Looking-glass House.
“We had an instance.
In one brigade.
Where a visiting commander.
Was fooled by a decoy:”
“He asked: ‘Who gave the order.
To deploy artillery?
Where did the M777s.
Come from?’”
“Where did the M777s.
Come from?’”
Says an officer from ‘elves’.
33rd Detached Mechanised Brigade.
‘Let’s pretend that
you’re the Red Queen, Kitty!
Do you know, I think
if you sat up and folded your arms,
you’d look exactly like her.
Now do try, there’s a dear!’
And Alice got the Red Queen off the table,
and set it up before the kitten
According to him.
Another tactic is.
To quickly remove.
Real cannons.
Such as mortars.
After use and replace.
After use and replace.
Them with decoys.
“They’re ideal.
For deceiving the enemy.
And making them waste.
Expensive resources on nothing.”
“They work.
We need more of them.”
“They work.
We need more of them.”
as a model for it
to imitate: however,
the thing didn’t succeed,
principally, Alice said,
because the kitten wouldn’t
fold its arms properly.
So, to punish it,
So, to punish it,
‘Orcs’ arsenal of decoys.
Is also rich and varied.
About half of the drones.
About half of the drones.
Involved in any of.
‘Orcs’ recent aerial attacks.
Are actually cheap imitations.
The ‘elves’ military says.
she held it up
to the Looking-glass,
that it might see
how sulky it was
– ‘and if you’re not good directly,’
she added, ‘I’ll put you
through into Looking-glass House.
How would you like that?
“It’s fifty-fifty these days.
Fifty per cent are.
Real Shahed drones and.
Fifty per cent are imitation drones.”
“Their job is to overload.
Our air defences and.
Ideally get us to use.
A missile.”
“Against a drone.
That costs peanuts.”
Says the ‘elves’.
Air force spokesman.
“Sometimes it’s a plywood thing.
That looks as though.
It was knocked together.
By some schoolchildren.”
While up in the air.
However, it looks the same.
As a lethal Shahed drone.
To ‘elves’ radars.
Let’s pretend
there’s a way of
getting through into it,
somehow, Kitty.
Let’s pretend
the glass has got all
soft like gauze,
so that we can get through.
One ‘orcs’ firm produces.
Imitations that include.
2D decoys.
To mislead intelligence.
Gathering from.
the air or space.
Decoys that mimic.
The heat given out.
By engines or radio traffic.
Coming from soldiers’ walkie-talkies.
And reflectors that.
Fool the enemy’s radars.
Let’s pretend
the glass has got all
soft like gauze,
so that we can get through.
Why, it’s turning into
a sort of mist now, I declare!
It’ll be easy enough
to get through –’
Actual soldiers can be.
Imitated too.
Actual soldiers can be.
Imitated too.
Volunteers from.
The Kremlin-backed People’s.
Front movement in Novosibirsk.
Have made dummies.
Wearing military uniforms.
To imitate human heat.
And thus deceive ‘elves’.
Thermal imaging cameras.
Their trunks are wrapped.
With heating wire.
Underneath the jacket.
Underneath the jacket.
And here I wish
I could tell you half the things
Alice used to say, beginning
with her favourite phrase
‘Let’s pretend.’
She had had quite a long
argument with her sister
only the day before
But of course.
But of course.
Decoys are not.
A new idea in war.
In preparation for.
D-Day landings.
An entirely fake.
Army group was.
Set up in the UK.
Equipped with.
Dummy tanks and.
Decoy aircraft.
– all because
Alice had begun with
‘Let’s pretend
we’re kings and queens;’
and her sister,
who liked being very exact,
had argued that they couldn’t,
because there were only two of them,
It was all part of.
An elaborate trick.
To hide the reality.
On the ground.
And give the Allies.
The element of surprise.
They needed to launch.
Their attack.
and Alice had been reduced
at last to say,
‘Well, you can be one of them then,
and I’ll be all the rest.’
And once she had really
frightened her old nurse
by shouting suddenly
in her ear,
Military technology.
Has hugely improved.
Since World War Two.
Since World War Two.
Drones and unmanned systems.
On the battlefield.
Are a major innovation.
In this war, for instance.
‘Nurse! Do let’s pretend
that I’m a hungry hyaena,
and you’re a bone!’
and you’re a bone!’
But this is taking us
away from Alice’s speech
to the kitten.
to the kitten.
But no matter what.
New weapons of destruction.
Make it to the battlefield.
It just goes to show that.
Subterfuge and trickery.
– even with something.
As simple as a blow up doll –
Will always play a part in warfare.
‘Kitty, can you play chess?
Now, don’t smile, my dear,
I’m asking it seriously.
Because, when we were playing just now,
you watched just as if
you understood it:
and when I said “Check!”
you purred!
Well, it was a nice check, Kitty,
and really I might have won,
if it hadn’t been
for that nasty Knight,
that came wriggling down
among my pieces.
Kitty, dear,
let’s pretend –’
*Because I read “Inflatable tanks and flat-pack guns – inside Ukraine’s decoy war” by Vitaly Shevchenko on 7 Sep 2025, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, including a story of Klimenko, a story of Narozhny, a story of Charisma, and a story of Col Ihnat, led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Inflatable tanks and flat-pack guns – inside Ukraine’s decoys war
