Zelenskyy says Kyiv asked Iran in 2022 not to supply Shahed attack drones to Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that in 2022, when Iran sold Russia its first batch of Shahed attack drones, Ukraine contacted Iran and asked it not to supply weapons to Russia, and Iran assured that there would be no further deliveries.

Source: Zelenskyy on Telegram, with reference to his interviews with i24NEWS and The Jerusalem Post

Quote: "At that time, the Iranian regime delivered the first batch of Shahed drones – 1,000 drones – to Russia. We contacted the Iranians at the level of intelligence services. We asked them not to supply weapons to Russia. We told them that if the supplied Shahed drones killed our civilians, the Iranian regime would become Russia's ally. They replied: 'No, no, we are not allies in this. We sold the Russians only one batch of Shahed drones. It will be 1,200 or 1,300 drones, and that's all. There will be no further deliveries.' But they lied."

Details: Zelenskyy reiterated that Iran not only provided Russia with "thousands" of Shahed drones but also handed over licences for their production.

"They helped Russia build two factories to produce these drones and initially oversaw their use and trained the Russians," the president concluded.

Previously: On 12 March, Zelenskyy said the first Shahed drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine had been launched by Iranian operators, as Russian personnel still needed training.

Background:

• On 10 March, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian experts in security and counter-UAV measures would travel to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
• On 3 March, he also said Ukraine faced a shortage of PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defence systems and was ready to exchange its interceptor drones for them.

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