British intelligence believes that Russia has almost exhausted its stockpile of Iranian drones. But it can be replenished

British intelligence believes that Russia has almost exhausted its stockpile of Iranian drones after massive attacks on Ukraine.

This is stated in the daily report of the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain.

They noted that since September, Russia has allegedly launched hundreds of Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukraine. These devices were a mixture of kamikaze drones and more traditional reusable weapon systems.

Previously, the Russian Federation mostly used this weapon against tactical military targets and Ukrainian power grids. Recently, however, the Russian command apparently wanted Iranian drones to prioritize medical facilities as possible targets for attack and to strike them with guided munitions.

"Russia presumably designed the UAV campaign to compensate for a severe shortage of cruise missiles, but this approach has had limited success. Most of the launched UAVs have been neutralized," British intelligence stated.

It was noticed there that since about November 17, the strikes by Iranian drones have not been publicly reported. This may indicate that Russia has almost exhausted its reserves, but is likely to seek replenishment.

"Probably, Russia will be able to purchase UAVs from abroad faster than to manufacture new cruise missiles domestically," British intelligence officers believe.

• Russian troops are currently attacking Ukraine with Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones and using Mohajer-6 multi-purpose UAVs in the war. Defense forces of Ukraine have learned to shoot down most attacking drones.
• According to Ukrainian intelligence, in the coming days Iran plans to send a shipment of more than 200 combat drones to the Russian Federation.
• On November 22, the Iranian representation at the UN reported that Iran is holding consultations with Ukraine to "avoid all misunderstandings" regarding Russiaʼs use of Iranian drones in Ukraine. They emphasized that this will be the case until all misunderstandings disappear.
• Meanwhile, US senators are calling on the White House to provide Ukraine with Gray Eagle strike drones. They believe that Iranian-made drones have given the Russians an advantage on the battlefield. So the Ukrainians should get an arsenal from the US to counter this.