The AP news agency reports that a factory in Russia's special economic zone of Alabuga has been manufacturing thermobaric drones along with the decoys.
Thermobaric drones create high-pressure, high-heat explosions which can penetrate walls and inflict serious injuries such as collapsed lungs, brain damage and crushed eyeballs.
A source told AP that Moscow first came up with the "Operation False Target" decoy plan in late 2022, which proposed firing a barrage of armed drones alongside a host of decoys which cannot be identified from those carrying real bombs.
An insider said: "The idea was to make a drone which would create a feeling of complete uncertainty for the enemy. So he doesn't know whether it's really a deadly weapon... or essentially a foam toy."
The potential damage from a thermobaric drone in a residential area would be "terrifying", they said.
According to Ukrainian electronic expert Serhii Beskrestnov, more than half the drones targeting Ukraine are now decoys.
Aftermath of a Russian drone strike in Kyiv last monthAP
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