Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo: Zelenskyy on Twitter (X)
Zelenskyy says Kyiv asked Iran in 2022 not to supply Shahed attack drones to Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that in 2022, when Iran sold Russia its first batch of Shahed attack drones, Ukraine contacted Iran and asked it not to supply weapons to Russia, and Iran stated that there would be no further deliveries.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that in 2022, when Iran sold Russia its first batch of Shahed attack drones, Ukraine contacted Iran and asked it not to supply weapons to Russia, and Iran stated that there would be no further deliveries.
Source: Zelenskyy on Twitter (X), with reference to his interviews with i24NEWS and The Jerusalem Post
Quote: "In the meantime, the Iranian regime supplied Russia with the first batch of 'Shaheds' – 1,000 drones. We got in touch with the Iranians at the level of intelligence services. We asked them not to supply weapons to Russia, because if the supplied 'Shaheds' had killed our civilians, the Iranian regime would become Russia's ally, we told them. They responded, 'No, no, we are not allies in this. We sold the Russians this one batch of 'Shaheds'. It will be 1,200 or 1,300 drones, and that's it. No more supplies.' But they lied."
Details: Zelenskyy reiterated that Iran not only provided Russia with "thousands" of Shahed drones but also handed over licences for their production.
"They helped Russia to build two factories which produce these drones, and initially they operated the drones and trained the Russians," the president concluded.
Previously: On 12 March, Zelenskyy said the first Shahed drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine had been launched by Iranian operators, as Russian personnel still needed to be trained.
Background:
On 10 March, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian experts in security and counter-UAV measures would travel to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
On 3 March, he also said Ukraine faced a shortage of PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defence systems and was ready to exchange its interceptor drones for them.
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