Ukraine claims it shot down Iran drone used by Russia

The Ukrainian military claimed on Tuesday that it shot down an Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone allegedly used by Russia’s armed forces near Kupiansk in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv which was recently recaptured by Ukraine amid Moscow’s on-going military operation in the country. It is the first time that Kyiv has claimed to have downed an Iranian drone.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence published several images of what it said were the remains of a triangular-shaped drone bearing striking similarity to Iran’s Shahed drones. Reuters reported that parts of the destroyed drone had “Geran-2” written on the side in Russian, while the wingtip resembled that of the Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

#Ukraine: In the first credible sighting of Iranian drones in use by Russian forces, here we see the remains of a HESA Shahed-136 loitering munition (or a design based on it), which is made in Iran. From the appearance, it seems it likely detonated.

Images via @kms_d4k pic.twitter.com/LUBKrPAMNc

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) September 13, 2022

Britain’s defence ministry supported Ukraine’s claims. In a military intelligence update yesterday the ministry said it was “highly likely” that Russia had deployed the UAV.

“Russia is almost certainly increasingly sourcing weaponry from other heavily sanctioned states like Iran and North Korea as its own stocks dwindle,” it said.

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Tehran has yet to respond to Kyiv’s claims and Iran’s UN mission has also not responded to requests for comment. The Iranian government has previously denied allegations made by Ukraine and the US that it has supplied Russia with armed drones to be used as reconnaissance or “loitering munitions”.

Washington first claimed in July that Iran was planning to supply “hundreds” of drones to Russia to be used in Ukraine. This was swiftly denied by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in a phone call to his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.

In August a US-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, quoted adviser to the Ukrainian President’s Office, Oleksiy Arestovych, as saying that Iran handed over 46 drones to Russia. In the same month, Yuliya Leonidivna Klymenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament, told Iran International that Moscow was buying 100 more drones from Iran in addition to the ones it had already bought from the Islamic Republic.

On Tuesday, Hebrew media reported that an Israeli firm had supplied anti-drone systems to Ukraine and that the equipment was being sold through Poland to circumvent Tel Aviv’s refusal to sell advanced weaponry to Ukraine, in a move which would harm relations with Russia.

READ: US imposes sanctions on affiliates of Iran’s IRGC over cyber activities