Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says Moscow and Tehran are ‘brothers in hatred’; claims Iran’s drones ‘include Russian parts’.
Greater than 200 Ukrainian army consultants are within the Gulf area and wider Center East serving to governments of their defence towards Iran’s drone attacks, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has mentioned.
In an tackle to dozens of members of the UK Parliament in London on Tuesday, the Ukrainian chief mentioned 201 Ukrainian anti-drone consultants are within the area and one other 34 “are able to deploy”.
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“These are army consultants, consultants who know tips on how to assist, tips on how to defend towards Shahed drones,” Zelenskyy mentioned in his speech, referring to the Iranian-designed “kamikaze” drones that Russia has been utilizing in its struggle towards Ukraine since 2022.
“Our groups are already within the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and on the best way to Kuwait,” the Ukrainian chief mentioned.
“We’re working with a number of different international locations – agreements are already in place. We don’t want this terror of the Iranian regime towards its neighbours to succeed,” he mentioned.
Final week, the Ukrainian chief mentioned military teams had been despatched to a number of Gulf states and Jordan.
Zelenskyy, who met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO chief Mark Rutte earlier on Tuesday, mentioned Russia had acquired the Shahed-136 drones from the Iranians, who had “taught Russia tips on how to launch them and gave it the know-how to provide them”.
“Russia then upgraded them. And now we’ve got clear proof that Iranian Shaheds used within the area include Russian parts,” Zelenskyy mentioned, describing the drones as designed for “low-cost destruction of pricey essential infrastructure”.
“So what is going on round Iran right this moment is just not a faraway struggle for us, due to the cooperation between Russia and Iran,” he mentioned.
“The regimes in Russia and Iran are brothers in hatred, and that’s the reason they’re brothers in weapons. And we would like regimes constructed on hatred to by no means win – in something,” he added.
The Ukrainian chief then addressed his nation’s newly developed prowess in drone warfare and manufacturing, claiming that 90 p.c of Russian losses on the entrance strains in Ukraine are being “attributable to our drones”.
Ukraine has moved on from making sea and aerial drones to producing interceptors that concentrate on drones, he mentioned, including that Ukraine is able to producing no less than 2,000 interceptors per day – half of that are required for its personal defence and the rest out there to be used by Kyiv’s allies.
“If a Shahed must be stopped within the Emirates – we are able to do it. If it must be stopped in Europe or the UK – we are able to do it. It’s a matter of know-how, funding, and cooperation,” he mentioned.
Whereas Ukraine has change into one of many world’s main producers of refined, battlefield-proven drone interceptors, US President Donald Trump has mentioned he doesn’t want Ukraine’s assist with countering Tehran’s drones concentrating on army targets within the Center East.
After assembly with Zelenskyy at 10 Downing Road, Starmer mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin “can’t be the one who advantages from the battle in Iran, whether or not that’s oil costs or the dropping of sanctions”.
Throughout Zelenskyy’s go to on Tuesday, London and Kyiv signed a deal on a “defence partnership”, which is alleged to mix “Ukraine’s experience and the UK’s industrial base to fabricate and provide drones and progressive capabilities”.
