Iran is currently supplying Russia with material to build its own drone factory. This was reported by US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday. From “early next year”, production could start in its own Russian factory, according to information from the intelligence services.
According to the United States, Russia has bought many Iranian military drones to attack targets in Ukraine since the invasion of Ukraine began. Now Russia wants to build a factory to produce the attack drones itself.
“Moscow has not only received hundreds of Iranian drones, but is also cooperating with Iran on their production in Russia,” US authorities said on Friday. According to the US, Iran is shipping equipment to Russia via the Caspian Sea for the factory, as well as complete drones. The Russian drone factory should be fully operational early next year.
LOOK. Russians use Iranian drones in war with Ukraine
The US will release a satellite photo on Friday of the location where the drone factory would be located, somewhere near Yelabuga. That is about 900 kilometers east of Moscow. “The military partnership between Russia and Iran appears to be deepening,” Kirby said. “We continue to impose sanctions against players involved in the transfer of Iranian military equipment to Russia for use in Ukraine.”
More recently used
According to British intelligence, Russia has made even more use of Iranian-made drones in the past month than before in the war. Moscow wants to get Ukraine to exhaust its stocks of expensive, advanced anti-aircraft missiles, it sounds.
But according to the British Ministry of Defense, that is not yet the case: “Ukraine has been able to neutralize at least 90 percent of incoming drones with older and cheaper weapon systems and with electronic interference,” the British said.
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