Russia made a flashy upgrade to its cruise missiles since Ukraine shot down so many — but it likely won't help

• Russia appears to have put decoy flares on its cruise missiles, a world first.
• The flares are meant to confuse Ukraine's air defense and make them harder to shoot down.
• Experts told BI they are unlikely to be very effective.

Russia appears to be putting decoy flares on its cruise missiles to reduce how often Ukraine successfully shoots them down.

But experts told Business Insider the move may not have much of an effect beyond looking cool.

A video at the end of December appeared to show a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile using decoy flares during an attack.