Iranian troops are “directly engaged on the ground” in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian population, the White House has said.
The US government has confirmed that Russian attacks have employed unmanned aerial vehicles purchased from Tehran in attacks carried out against Ukrainian targets from bases on the peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“We assess that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations,” said Mr Kirby, who said Russia has now purchased “dozens” of the Iranian-made drones and is “likely” to keep purchasing additional shipments of the unmanned weapons from Tehran.
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Mr Kirby also said US officials are concerned that Russia’s “ongoing supply shortages” may lead Moscow to seek “advanced conventional weapons” from the Iranian government, including surface to surface missiles.
Read more: Independent
