Ukrainian officials posted a photo of an Iranian-made drone that was allegedly used by the Russian military just days after the Iranian ambassador to Ukraine denied supplying them to Russia.
In a Tweet on Monday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry shared an image of an Iranian-made Qods Mohajer-6, one of a series of 210 such drones that had been produced in Iran since 2018.
If legitimate, the image would appear to contradict longstanding claims from the Iranian government that it has not been supplying Russian invading forces with unmanned aircraft for use in Ukraine, an alleged transgression that had already prompted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to all but sever diplomatic relations with the country late last month.
In a nightly address on September 23, Zelensky said his country's anti-aircraft forces had shot down more than a dozen drones in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and Odesa, all of which appeared to be of Iranian manufacture.
Recently, in response to a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the ambassador of Iran stated that his country has not supplied drones to russia.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 3, 2022
Here is the Iranian drone Qods Mohajer-6, which was launched to coordinate an attack on Odesa a few days ago. pic.twitter.com/C5Ep0kj7GZ
"Supplying Russia with weapons to wage war against Ukraine is an unfriendly act that deals a serious blow to relations between Ukraine and Iran," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement following a drone attack on the southern port city of Odesa on September 23.
Newsweek has contacted the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
Despite its regular denials, Iran has already long been suspected of supplying arms to the Russian military as it faces significant munitions and personnel challenges approaching the eight-month anniversary on October 24 of its incursion into Ukraine.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense published a report of Russia's use of Iranian-made drones in the country, though those weapons have suffered "numerous failures" on the battlefield, per the Pentagon.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters as early as July the government believed Iran was preparing to supply the Russian military with a store of as many as 300 drones in an effort to restore lost Russian firepower from earlier in the war.
And nearly one month ago, U.S. intelligence said it had found that a Tehran-based air carrier coordinated military flights between Iran and Russia to transport the drones to the country for use in its war against Ukraine. In recent days, the United States government has announced additional sanctions on Iran and a number of companies associated with the building and transport of those drones.
"Russia is making increasingly desperate choices to continue its unprovoked war against Ukraine, particularly in the face of our unprecedented sanctions and export controls," U.S. Treasury official Brian E. Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions September 8. "The United States is committed to strictly enforcing our sanctions against both Russia and Iran and holding accountable Iran and those supporting Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Nick Reynolds is a senior politics reporter at Newsweek. A native of Central New York, he previously worked as a ... Read more
