Not being well up on either Russian history or military strategy, I confess I'd never heard of "maskirovka", the subject under discussion in episode one of BBC Radio 4's returning Analysis documentary series (Monday, 8.30pm).

But I have heard of "furbizia", the "guile" that is an essential part of the Italian footballer's armoury and from the explanation of maskirovka given by presenter Lucy Ash, it sounds like pretty much the same thing - though in its Russian form it's practised on the battlefield and (increasingly) the internet rather than on the football pitch by 11 pony-tailed men in shorts and luminous boots.

Actually there's a little more to maskirovka than just guile or cunning. The word itself has several meanings, one of which is "little masquerade", and, as Ash explains, it has been the hallmark of Russian warfare ever since a Slav army first stood up to (and beat) a 150,000-strong invading Mongol force in 14th century.

But these days it has become more than just a military strategy and moved into the realm of politics too, becoming a useful political tool for people such as - let's pick a name at random - Vladimir Putin. Predictably it has also found its way onto the web and the rolling news channels in the form of unverifiable half-truths aimed at sowing doubt and confusion. The Russians also have a word for this - dezinformatsiya - but it's all part of the culture of maskirovka.

Mention Putin and maskirovka and pretty soon our thoughts turn to the current crisis in Ukraine. Ash was clearly thinking along the same lines and for much of the programme she used Russia's annexation of the Crimea as a prism through which to define, discuss and analyse the concept. Helping her out was a coterie of historians, Kremlin-watchers, media-savvy Ukrainian activists and, because no programme like this is complete without a retired general or two, a grandstanding Russian of that rank and counterpart from NATO.

"It's a game of smoke and mirrors," said historian and journalist Anne Applebaum. But a deadly game, whose players are soldiers with no insignia who arrive under cover of dark, aid convoys that act as decoys, and politicians who obfuscate and mislead so they don't have to actually lie.