Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) may have traveled to Russian-controlled territories in Ukraine to help train Russian troops. The IRGC is designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
A report from the Institute for the Study of War (IFSW), released last week, says Russian forces “may have” brought IRGC-affiliated personnel to train troops in the use of Shahed-136 drones – another example. of the warming relationship between Moscow and Tehran.
The IFSW is based on a report by the Ukrainian Resistance Center published on October 12 stating that an “unspecified” number of instructors from Iran arrived at Dzankoi in Crimea, the port of Zalizniy and Hladivtsi in Kherson Oblast. .
British newspaper The Daily Mirror said the number could be “up to 50” specialists from the IRGC, but IFSW told Fox News Digital it does not have a specific number.
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The Pentagon told Fox News Digital it has “nothing to add at this time” in response to the reports.
The Resistance Center also said that Iranian instructors directly control the launch of drones on civilian targets, including the Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts.
Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard arrive on Monday for a ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Tehran, Iran. The co-conspirators named in the indictment are accused by the Justice Department of working on behalf of the military unit.
(AP)
While the Resistance Center only specified that the instructors are Iranian, the IFSW noted that the IRGC is the primary operator of the Iranian drone inventory, making it “likely” that the instructors are members of the IRGC or at least affiliated with the group.
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Russia stepped up its bombing in the wake of the Crimean bridge explosion, firing 80 cruise missiles into Ukraine in “retaliation” for the “attack” on the Kerch bridge.
This undated photograph released by the Ukrainian Army’s Directorate of Strategic Communications shows the wreckage of what Kiev described as a downed Iranian Shahed drone near Kupiansk, Ukraine. On Tuesday, September 13, 2022, the Ukrainian military said for the first time that it encountered an Iranian-supplied suicide drone being used by Russia on the battlefield, showing the ever-closer ties between Moscow and Tehran as the Islamic Republic’s frayed nuclear deal. with world powers hangs in the balance. (Directorate of Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Army via AP)
(Directorate of Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Army via AP)
A fuel tank explosion damaged part of the bridge, which connects Russia with the Crimean peninsula, causing part of the facility to fall into the water, Russian officials said. Three people died in the blast, presumably passengers in a car next to the exploded truck.
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Tehran has repeatedly claimed that it is not involved in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, but critics have questioned that position as the Shahed-136 drones, also known as “kamikaze drones,” have begun to appear on the front lines.
A local resident walks next to an apartment building destroyed by a Russian bombing in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Two Americans were reportedly killed in the country.
(AP Photo / Andriy Andriyenko)
Moscow received the drones over the summer as officials turned to North Korea and Iran to help upgrade dwindling arms supplies, including artillery shells and rockets. Russian troops encountered technical problems attempting to deploy the Shahed-136 drones, but began using the drones in mid-September, as Ukrainian troops claimed to have shot down some of the drones.
“The loss of a Shahed-136 near the front line suggests that there is a realistic possibility that Russia is attempting to use the system to conduct tactical attacks rather than against more strategic targets more on Ukrainian territory,” says a Defense Ministry report. British.
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Kiev residents woke up to air raid sirens last week as drones struck somewhere around the perimeter of the capital, with unknown casualties. However, Deputy Head of Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram that the attack had an impact on “critical infrastructure structures”
Lawrence Richard and Andrea Vacchino of Fox News contributed to this report.
