Russia's Drone Supply Likely Refilled by Iran Amid Barrage of Strikes: UK

It is likely that Russia has been resupplied with Iranian-made drones amid the recent barrage of missiles launched in Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defence said Friday.

"For the first time in three weeks, there have been reports of attacks by Iranian-provided one-way attack (OWA) uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs)," the British Defence Ministry said in an intelligence update posted to Twitter. "These events remain to be verified, but it is likely that Russia exhausted its previous stock of several hundred Shahed-131s and 136s and has now received a resupply."

The Ukrainian armed forces recently ruled out the idea that Russia could use the Shahed-136 UAVs, also known as "Kamikaze" drones, because they were made of plastic and other non-frost-resistant materials.

However, Yuriy Ihnat, the Ukrainian Air Force Command spokesperson, said Wednesday that Russian forces have resolved those issues and continued using the munitions after a three-week pause.

"Even in the cold, these drones will fly, so it is also necessary to prepare for this," he said, according to Ukrainian army outlet Army Inform. Ukrainian and Russian sources reported that Moscow had used Kamikaze drones to attack the Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr and Zaporizhzhia regions on Tuesday.

The ministry said Friday that the Ukrainian general staff reported shooting down 17 UAVs, including 14 Shahed-136s, adding that on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials reported "the use of Iranian-provided OWA UAVs targeting Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro oblasts."

Last month, the Shahed-136 were already flying in Ukrainian skies and hit civilian targets, as Kyiv expressed concern about the idea of Iran supplying Russian forces with surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and UAVs.

Meanwhile, the British Defence Ministry continued in its Friday brief: "the last previously reported shooting down of Iranian Shahed-136s in Ukraine was on 17 November 2022. If verified, it is likely that Russia has recommenced attacks with newly delivered OWA UAV systems."

On Monday, Russian forces launched dozens of missiles that led to the loss of water and electricity supplies in some parts of Ukraine, killing at least one person in Kryvyi Rih and at least two others in Zaporizhzhia, CNN reported, citing local officials. Though the Ukrainian Air Force said that more than 60 Russian missiles were intercepted, some of them hit their targets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian military launched an attack that killed and injured civilians on Wednesday during a "brutal, absolutely deliberate" attack that was carried out in the town of Kurakhove in the eastern Donetsk region.

According to Zelensky, Russia aimed "precisely at civilians. At ordinary people. At the market, elevator, gas station, bus station, residential building."

"Today was a long and hard day," he said at the opening of his daily address.

Iran is set to send about 1,000 additional weapons, most likely by the end of the year, CNN reported last month. The supply is expected to include drones and advanced precision guided missiles to help Russia fight in its war in Ukraine, which began on February 24.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry for comment.