**Russian Decoy Drone Found with Western Parts after Ukrainian Attack**

The Ukrainian military has revealed that Western-made components were discovered inside a Russian decoy drone following an assault over the weekend. Moscow has been deploying these unarmed, counterfeit drones in large numbers to mislead and overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses, according to a statement by Kyiv's military intelligence agency, known as the HUR, shared on Telegram.

The HUR highlighted that these decoy drones, referred to as "Parody" by Ukraine, are designed to simulate the radar signature of the more expensive and larger Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones, which Russia has used extensively to strike Ukrainian cities over the past two years. Although these decoys are cheap and rudimentary, they aim to confuse defense systems with a flood of fake targets. Over the past month alone, Russia launched over 2,000 drones at Ukraine, with about half being these decoys, according to HUR.

On Sunday, Moldova, which borders Ukraine to the south, experienced the crash of two such decoy drones, raising concerns in the non-NATO country. An examination of the decoy drones by Ukrainian agencies found technology and parts originating from companies based in the US and Europe. Ukraine has shared evidence of these components, including microcontrollers, antennas, and transceivers, on a government portal, naming several Western firms allegedly involved.

Despite international sanctions aimed at curtailing Russia's access to key military components, evidence continues to surface of Western-made parts in Russian weaponry, including missiles and drones. In an intelligence update last week, Britain's defense ministry noted an increase in Russia's use of one-way attack drones against Ukraine in recent months.

Ukraine's air force reported a record-breaking attack involving 145 drones on Sunday night, with 62 successfully intercepted and destroyed. Kyiv further mentioned that numerous drones were "lost" in various regions, while 10 exited Ukrainian airspace, heading toward Moldova, Belarus, and Russia. Moldovan officials confirmed that at least two drones had crashed on their territory, sparking condemnation.

Mihai Popșoi, Moldova's foreign minister, condemned the incursions and the risk they posed to Moldovan citizens. "Two Russian decoy drones used to mislead Ukrainian air defense crashed in Moldova today, endangering Moldovan lives and violating our airspace," Popșoi stated. "We firmly condemn these aggressive incursions and reiterate our condemnation of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine," he added.