Moscow and Tehran have reached an agreement to manufacture drones on Russian soil to bolster their war effort in Ukraine after months of relentless shelling of civilian sites, a Washington Post report said on Saturday.
Fox News could not immediately reach the Pentagon for comment, but according to the report, US intelligence officials only recently learned of the deal the two nations reached in early November.
The United States first revealed Iranian plans to “give away” hundreds of Shahed-136 drones to Russia earlier this year, and in August 1,000 Iranian-supplied drones were shipped to Russia before being dropped on civilian targets in Ukraine.
FILE – Firefighters work after a drone attack on buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 17, 2022.
(AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna, File)
RUSSIA FIRES 18 CRUISE MISSILES, 5 DRONES IN UKRAINE ONE DAY AFTER US, ALLIES PLEDGE TO BOOST kyiv’S AIR DEFENSE
The deal apparently coincided with Russia’s defeat at Kherson earlier this month when it withdrew its forces from the capital city in its biggest military loss since it withdrew from Kharkiv in September.
It is unclear which drone design would be used for production in Russia, but according to the report, officials from both nations are working on the transfer of key components and plans to get manufacturing underway in three months.
Some 400 drones have been launched on various targets in Ukraine, hitting civilian neighborhoods, towns, cities and the nation’s energy infrastructure.
Russia has intensified its airstrikes in recent months, while its ground forces continue to experience setbacks as Ukrainian forces push east.
A drone is launched during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on August 25, 2022.
(West Asia News Agency/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo)
NATO SAYS RUSSIA IS ‘ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE’ FOR DEATHS IN POLAND WHICH MAY COME FROM AIR DEFENSE MISSILES
Since November 11, Russia has launched approximately 150 missiles and more than 25 kamikaze drones against Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Chief of General Staff Oleksii Hromov on Thursday.
More than 100 of the airstrikes carried out in the six-day period were blocked by Ukrainian air defenses.
But Russia’s latest deal with Tehran may not only increase its ability to produce more drones, it may also rapidly increase the amount of time it would take to refit its troops both in Ukraine and in the Russian-Belarusian border regions.
In this image released by the official website of the Iranian Supreme Leader’s office, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greet each other as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi greets each other. stands to the right, during their meeting in Tehran. , Iran, Tuesday, July 19, 2022.
(Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
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Ukraine has pleaded with its Western allies since the start of the war to help improve its air defenses, a request that has become increasingly urgent given Russia’s heavy reliance on air strikes.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this week that he and the nearly 50 other allied nations that make up the Ukraine Contact Group were seeking to send Ukraine the “right mix” of air defenses and weaponry to prevent Russia from gaining air superiority.
News that Moscow will ramp up its drone production also comes just three days after a Ukrainian air defense system crashed on NATO borders, killing two in Poland after Russia launched missiles at western Ukraine.
