Click to see full-size image. (Screengrab/Russian Ministry of Defense)
Ukraine has been attacking Russian territories with Iranian-made fixed-wing suicide drones, which were likely seized by the United States.
The first evidence of such drones being used by Kiev forces emerged on May 17 when the Russian Ministry of Defense shared video footage showing the remains of a Shahed-101 and Shahed-107 which were shot down over the Kursk region. The drones were identified by an officer from the 1st Guards Engineer Brigade of the North Group of Forces.
A large-scale Ukrainian attack with hundreds of drones targeted Russian territories on that, with interceptions reported as deep as Moscow. It is unclear from the video, however, if the Iranian drones were intercepted in that particular attack, or before.
The Shahed-101 and Shahed-107 drones are made by Iran’s Shahed Aviation Industries. Although the Shahed-107 is notably larger than the Shahed-101, both drones feature a near identical design with carbon fiber bodies and wings.
While Shahed-101 is reported to have a range of 700 to 900 kilometers, with a warhead weighing eight to ten kilograms, while the larger Shahed-107 is said to have a range of up to 1,500 kilometers, with a warhead weighing eight to 15 kilograms.
Both drones utilize the same satellite-aided inertial navigation system, which is claimed to be highly resistant to electronic warfare means.
The U.S. has sized multiple such drones over the years, mainly from weapon shipments heading from Iran to the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen.
Reports from as back as 2023 revealed Ukrainian efforts to convince the U.S. to hand over these weapons for use against Russia. This is the first evidence that these efforts were successful.
In addition to Iranian drones, SouthFront speculated in a recent report — based on photos showing Ukrainian troops with Chinese-made FN-16 man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) — that the U.S. may have transferred to Kiev forces air defenses seized from secret Chinese arms shipment to Iran.
Several reports that came out after the start of the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran talked about Chinese efforts to ship MANPADS to the Islamic Republic, and President Donald Trump later hinted that at least one arms shipment was seized.
By transferring such seized weapons to Ukraine, the U.S. is likely attempting to pressure Russia, and even to some extent China, into moving away from Iran.
This tactic will not likely produce any meaningful result as the quantities of seized weapons is likely too small to make any impact in the battlefield.
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usa send weapons to ukraine, also sent weapons to syrian terrorists, its time that russia send weapons to iran and not only air defense systems or ews.