Moscow and Tehran have reached an agreement to deploy drones on Russian soil to bolster their war effort in Ukraine after months of relentless bombing of civilian locations, according to a Washington Post report on Saturday.
Fox News could not immediately reach the Pentagon for comment, but according to the report, US intelligence officials recently learned of the deal the two nations reached in early November.
The United States first revealed Iranian plans to “gift” Russia hundreds of Shahed-136 drones 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, Oct. 17, 2022.
(AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna, Files)
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The deal apparently coincided with Russia’s defeat at Kherson earlier this month, when it withdrew its forces from the capital in its biggest military loss since its retreat from Kharkiv in September.
It is unclear which drone model will be used for production in Russia, but according to the report, officials in both nations are working on the transfer of key components and expect to start production within three months.
400 drones were reportedly dropped on various targets in Ukraine, hitting civilian neighborhoods, villages, cities and the nation’s energy infrastructure.
Russia has stepped up its air strikes in recent months, as its ground forces continue to suffer setbacks as Ukrainian forces push the front lines further east.
A drone is launched during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this image taken on Aug. 25, 2022.
(West Asian News Agency/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo)
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Since November 11, Russia has fired about 150 missiles and more than 25 kamikaze drones against Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Chief of Staff Oleksii Hromov on Thursday.
Over 100 of the airstrikes carried out over the six-day period were blocked by Ukraine’s air defences.
But Russia’s latest deal with Tehran could not only boost its ability to produce more drones, it could rapidly increase the amount of time it takes to redeploy its troops both in Ukraine and in border regions in Russia and Belarus.
In this image released by the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Office, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greet each other as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stands at right, during their meeting in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday, July 19, 2022.
(Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via AP)
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Ukraine has been begging its Western allies since the beginning of the war to help it improve its air defenses, a request that has become increasingly urgent given Russia’s heavy reliance on airstrikes.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this week that he, and the 50 other allied nations that make up the Ukraine contact group, were trying to send Ukraine the “right mix” of air defenses and weapons to prevent Russia from getting air superiority.
The news that Moscow will ramp up its drone production also comes just three days after a Ukrainian air defense system crashed across NATO borders and killed two in Poland after Russia imposed missiles on western Ukraine.
