{"id":99084,"date":"2022-10-21T17:05:38","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T15:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=99084"},"modified":"2022-10-21T12:40:04","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T10:40:04","slug":"24-05-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=99084","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Deadly Drones Support Russia\u2019s Invasion of Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Iran\u2019s Deadly Drones Support Russia\u2019s Invasion of Ukraine<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Ioannis E. Kotoulas<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Smoke rises after a Russian drones strike, which local authorities consider to be Iranian made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Shahed-136, amid Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 17, 2022. Photo: REUTERS\/Gleb Garanich<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Iran is becoming an accomplice to Russia\u2019s ongoing invasion of Ukraine by supplying Moscow with drones used in deadly attacks against civilians and infrastructure. It also is dispatching personnel to occupied regions of Ukraine to assist invading Russian forces. By doing so, Iran is also testing the capabilities of its weaponry for future attacks against its opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russia\u00a0invaded Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0in late February. It conducted\u00a0a series of drone and missile strikes<\/a>\u00a0this week targeting densely populated Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure throughout the country. At least five people were killed, and many were wounded.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ukrainian officials\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0the attacks came from Iranian-made drones, specifically the one-way attack\u00a0Shahed-136<\/a>\u00a0model. According to\u00a0Ukrainian media<\/a>, five Shahed-136 drones struck infrastructure in Kyiv\u2019s Shevchenkivskyi district, including the UkrEnergo (Ukrainian electricity transmission system operator) building, with the aim to plunge the city into darkness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Videos of the attacks [here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>, and\u00a0here<\/a>] show the horrible devastation inflicted on Ukrainian civilians. Other videos [here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>] show the Iranian drones flying over the Ukrainian city choosing their targets. In another\u00a0video<\/a>, Ukrainian officers shoot down an Iranian drone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month\u00a0accused Iran<\/a>\u00a0of enabling Russia\u2019s terror campaign against Ukrainian civilians. \u201cWe are dealing with terrorists. Dozens of missiles. Iranian Shaheds [\u2026] They want panic and chaos.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ukrainian special services and other\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0claim that the Russian army purposefully launched Shahed-136 Iranian drones over Uman in central Ukraine, attacking a\u00a0Hasidic pilgrimage<\/a>\u00a0celebrating Rosh Hashanah<\/a>. As many as 3,000 Hasidim were in Uman to celebrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlanned acts of terrorism against Israeli citizens are one of the conditions for Iran\u2019s transfer of drones to Russia. As you know, this is not the first example of cooperation between two terrorist countries. Not so long ago, a Ukrainian civilian plane was shot down in Iran, apparently by mistake. But the interests of the Kremlin can be seen behind this case,\u201d Ukrainian special services\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0the website Babel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its use of Iranian munitions is a sign that Russia has exhausted most of its domestic stock of operational-tactical weapons, especially\u00a0high-precision missiles<\/a>\u00a0and even artillery fire. Shahed-136s function as cruise missiles, enabling Russia to\u00a0strike<\/a>\u00a0deep inside Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iranian kamikaze drones have also been\u00a0delivered to Belarus<\/a>, a state allied with Russia that allows attacks on Ukraine to be launched from its territory. Iran may see Ukraine as a testing ground for its drones and missiles for possible future attacks against Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to supplying the weapons, Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) members may have traveled to Russian-held territories in Ukraine to help train Russian troops, according to an Oct. 12\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0by the Institute for the Study of War. Britain\u2019s\u00a0Daily Mail<\/i>\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cup to 50\u201d IRGC specialists were involved. According to the\u00a0Ukrainian Resistance Center<\/a>, the Iranian instructors directly control the launch of drones on civilian targets in Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ukraine\u00a0stripped Iranian Ambassador<\/a>\u00a0Manouchehr Moradi\u2019s accreditation and reduced the number of diplomatic personnel in the country. Russia\u2019s use of Iranian drones is a clear violation of\u00a0UN Security Council Resolution 2231<\/a>, the US State Department\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Iranian drone army<\/a>\u00a0has been used to supply weapons to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They even threaten Israeli\u00a0sea drilling projects<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran continues to deny its involvement in Ukraine, despite the fact that its drones have been undeniably identified in the deadly attacks. \u201cThe published news about Iran providing Russia with drones has political ambitions and it\u2019s circulated by western sources,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani. \u201cWe have not provided weaponry to any side of the countries at war.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have defense cooperation with Russia, but our policy on the Ukraine war is against sending weapons to the conflicting sides and support an end to the war and the people\u2019s displacement,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian\u00a0claimed<\/a>\u00a0during a telephone conversation with European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. At the same time, according to a\u00a0Reuters report<\/a>, Iranian officials admit that they have pledged surface-to-surface missiles to Russia, which will be soon dispatched.<\/span><\/p>\n

The European Union\u00a0responded<\/a>\u00a0to the Kyiv attack by promising additional sanctions against Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Biden administration condemned Iran\u2019s \u201clies\u201d about its Ukrainian involvement, and pledged to continue to enforce US sanctions against both Russia and Iran. \u201cWe have been warning since July \u2026 that Iran was planning to sell UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] to Russia for use against Ukraine. \u2026 There is extensive proof of their use by Russia against both military and civilian targets there,\u201d White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0reporters Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou all have seen as well the reports this morning of what appear to be an Iranian drone strike in downtown Kyiv, yet Iran continues to lie about this. They have not been truthful about this and deny providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine. Meanwhile, according to these new reports, Iran is considering selling more destructive weapons to support an invasion they claim to oppose. \u2026 That\u2019s what we\u2019ll do from here,\u201d Jean-Pierre\u00a0said<\/a>, \u201cmake it harder for Iran to sell these weapons to Russia, and we\u2019ll stand with our partners throughout the region against that Iranian threat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s invasion is stalling. Unable to achieve its strategic goals, and having suffered important setbacks since August, including the\u00a0loss of captured territory<\/a>, a\u00a0failed mobilization,<\/a>\u00a0and a humiliating\u00a0destruction of the Kerch Bridge<\/a>, Russia is now changing its tactics. It is resorting to\u00a0terror campaigns of bombardment<\/a>, prioritizing psychological terror effects on Ukraine over tangible battlefield effects. Over the last week, Russia has destroyed almost\u00a0a third of Ukraine\u2019s power stations<\/a>\u00a0ahead of the coming winter.<\/span><\/p>\n

After multiple attacks on Ukrainian cities and troops the last eight months, Russia is now\u00a0running out of high-precision weapons<\/a>. To compensate for this disadvantage, Russia is resorting to\u00a0cheap, but deadly drone technology<\/a>, and is increasingly dependent on Iranian-made \u201ckamikaze\u201d drones.<\/span><\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether the Biden administration and the European Union are up to the task of taking on increased Iranian interference and assistance of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. After this week\u2019s gruesome attacks, the United States and NATO allies are\u00a0rushing to deliver<\/a>\u00a0advanced air defense systems that Ukraine has been seeking\u00a0for months<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iranian state terrorism aligns with Russian terror tactics at the war front and in the cities of Ukraine \u2014 a worrying sign for the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) Senior Fellow<\/i>\u00a0Ioannis E. Kotoulas<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(Ph.D. in History, Ph.D. in Geopolitics) is Adjunct Lecturer in Geopolitics at the University of Athens, Greece<\/i>.\u00a0His latest book is<\/i>\u00a0Geopolitics of the War in Ukraine<\/i><\/a>. A version of this article was originally published by\u00a0IPT.<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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Iran\u2019s Deadly Drones Support Russia\u2019s Invasion of Ukraine Ioannis E. Kotoulas Smoke rises after a Russian drones strike, which local authorities consider to be Iranian made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Shahed-136, amid Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 17, 2022. Photo: REUTERS\/Gleb Garanich Iran is becoming an accomplice to Russia\u2019s ongoing invasion of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99084"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99101,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99084\/revisions\/99101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}