"Shaheds" have become more dangerous: Russia helped Iran improve them, - Zelenskyy
Russia has transferred technology to Iran for the modernization of "shahed" drones, which now pose a threat to countries in the Middle East.
According to Censor.NET, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed this in an interview with The Jerusalem Post..
"We've had a terrible experience with these drones… Ukraine has become a sort of testing ground for them. You can't even compare the first versions of the ‘Shaheds’ from the very beginning of the war with today's ‘Shahed,’" he said.
Zelenskyy recalled that at the start of the full-scale invasion, after evidence emerged that Iran was supplying drones to Russia, Kyiv urged Tehran not to supply the drones.
"They (the Iranians – ed.) said: ‘All right... we’re not allies in this. We sold this batch of 'Shaheds’ to the Russians, about 1,300 units, and that’s it.' However, that wasn’t true; they were, of course, lying," the president noted.
Russia and Iran are exchanging military technology
Zelenskyy stated that cooperation between Iran and Russia in the field of drones is a two-way process.
According to Zelenskyy, at the start of the full-scale war, Iran not only supplied drones but also:
- trained Russian military personnel to operate them;
- helped establish UAV production in Russia;
- transferred the relevant technologies and licenses.
As the president noted, the situation has now changed—Russia is now supplying Iran with upgraded drones and technical solutions.
"We saw some parts of the ‘Shahed’ that was destroyed in one of the Middle Eastern countries… What Ukrainian experts found points to Russia’s involvement, because we saw Russian parts and know that the Iranians don’t produce such things," Zelenskyy said.
This means, the president noted, that the Russians helped the Iranians—just as the Iranians helped the Russians at the very beginning of the war against Ukraine.
"The threat currently facing the Middle East did not arise overnight. Ukraine saw it first, experienced it first, and paid for the lessons learned with the blood of civilians," he emphasized.
Russia's war against Ukraine has global consequences
Zelenskyy emphasized that the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war extend far beyond the boundaries of a single conflict or region. This is because the combat experience Russia has gained during the war against Ukraine is being transformed into new technologies, tactics, and knowledge that could eventually spread beyond the Ukrainian front lines.
"This is vast knowledge from the battlefield. These are new technologies based on Iranian developments, and all of this will have an impact on other regions. I have always spoken about Africa, the Middle East, and Europe," the Ukrainian leader added.
Summarizing the interview, The Jerusalem Post notes that it "serves as a warning of what the rest of the world is now beginning to face: a drone war that began over Ukrainian cities, then spread beyond their borders, has become cheaper, smarter, and is now harder to stop. According to Zelenskyy, Putin and Iran have created this threat together."
