The Russian military is rebuilding and dressing up Iranian-made drones with Russian military markings for use in the Ukraine war, according to a new report by the Institute for the Study of War.
“ The Main Directorate of Military Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) reported on November 1 that Iranian officials intend to send more than 136 Shahed-136, Mohajer-6 and Arash-2 combat drones to Russia,” said the Institute for the Study of the War (ISW) in an evaluation of the Russian offensive campaign.
“The GUR informed that Iran will send the drones to Russia disassembled and that Russian personnel will assemble them with Russian brands”, he assured.
As the report noted, Ukraine’s Main Military Intelligence Directorate said that early this month, Russia is expected to receive hundreds of new drones from Iran.
“The drones will arrive unarmed. In the future, on the territory of the Russian Federation, they will be collected, repainted and applied with Russian markings, in particular ‘Geranium-2’”, said the Main Directorate of Military Intelligence of Ukraine.
The report by the ISW and Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Military Intelligence comes amid the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly claimed that the Russian military is using Iranian-made drones, as well as saying they have shot down hundreds of them.
‼️ A brief history commented by Americans on the function of Géranium-2 and why it is très dangereux pour l’ennemi?
1. Faible budget:
just’à 10-20 000 dollars per piece.The Tomahawk US costs 2M dollars.
Le Kalibr russe coûte 1M de dollars…/⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ZQJtKzux3R— ☭🇷🇺Russie-infos🥰☭ (@ RussieInfos) October 25, 300
Last month, Ukraine also announced that, in addition to the Shahed-136 drones, Iran was sending Russia Arash-2 drones, which ISW previously said were “supposedly faster and more destructive.”
While speaking to Newsweek last month, ISW Senior Intelligence Analyst Katherine Lawlor explained that: “The only reason it would be more effective than the Shahed-136 is if he can go substantially faster, if he can have any sort of stealth capabilities. I have no evidence that this is the case, but the Iranians have claimed that it is faster and bigger.”
The most recent ISW report also stated that since Ukraine began accusing Russia of using Iranian-made drones in September, defense forces have “shot down more than 300 drones Shahed-136“.
However, Iran has continued to deny reports that it has supplied military equipment to Russia. In a statement in October, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the accusations were “baseless.”
Also read:
· Zelensky claimed that Russia commissioned close of 2,000 drones from Iran
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2022