Drones purchased by Russia from Iran cause serious damage, striking Ukrainian military equipment.
The Wall Street Journal writes about it.
Over the past week, Shahed-136 drones, repainted and renamed Geran-2, began to appear more and more frequently over Ukrainian armored and artillery positions in northeastern Kharkiv region.
According to Rodion Kulagin, commander of the artillery of the 92nd mechanized brigade, Iranian drones destroyed two 152-mm self-propelled howitzers, two 122-mm self-propelled howitzers, and two armored personnel carriers only in the deployment area of his brigade. He added that the Russian military uses drones in those areas where they do not have a sufficient advantage in artillery.
Kulagin noted that Iranian drones are quite small and fly low, which makes it difficult for Ukrainian air defense systems to detect them. He also hopes that the US and its allies can provide Ukraine with more sophisticated counter-drone technology or intervene to disrupt the supply of Iranian drones to Russia.
- On July 11, the United States reported that Iran would soon provide Russia with "up to several hundred drones" and train the Russian military to use them. Russia wanted to get drones for the war against Ukraine amid heavy losses. After that, Iran stated that it has not sold military equipment to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine and opposes further escalation of hostilities.
- On July 16, CNN reported that a Russian delegation visited Iran twice to inspect the Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 attack drones, which are capable of carrying missiles. CNN published a satellite image taken on the day of the Russiansʼ visit.