page_title: Russian military deception
section_title: Historical antecedents
hierarchical_section_title: Russian military deception / Development of the doctrine / Historical antecedents
caption_attribution_description: English: Kulikovo Battle Русский: Куликовская битва. Миниатюра из «Сказания о Мамаевом побоище»
context_page_description: Russian military deception, sometimes known as maskirovka, is a military doctrine developed from the start of the twentieth century. The doctrine covers a broad range of measures for military deception, from camouflage to denial and deception.
  Deceptive measures include concealment, imitation with decoys and dummies, manoeuvres intended to deceive, denial, and disinformation. The 1944 Soviet Military Encyclopedia refers to "means of securing combat operations and the daily activities of forces; a complexity of measures, directed to mislead the enemy regarding the presence and disposition of forces..." Later versions of the doctrine also include strategic, political, and diplomatic means including manipulation of "the facts", situation and perceptions to affect the media and opinion around the world, so as to achieve or facilitate tactical, strategic, national and international goals.
  Deception contributed to major Soviet victories including the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk, and Operation Bagration: in these cases, surprise was achieved despite very large concentrations of force, both in attack and in defence.
context_section_description: The practice of military deception predates Russia. The Art of War, written in 5th century BC and attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tsu, describes a strategy of deception: "I will force the enemy to take our strength for weakness, and our weakness for strength, and thus will turn his strength into weakness". Early in Russia's history, in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, Prince Dmitry Donskoy defeated the armies of the Mongol Golden Horde using a surprise attack from a regiment hidden in forest. The tactics of that battle are still cited in Russian cadet schools.
caption: In the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, Dmitry Donskoy's Muscovite army defeated a much larger Mongol army using surprise.
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