Ukrainian military facilities in Odesa Oblast attacked by Iranian kamikaze drones
The details of the kamikaze drone attack on Odesa Oblast became known (Photo:Serhii Bratchuk/Telegram)
Invading Russian Forces has for a second day in a row attacked Odesa Oblast with kamikaze drones, the Ukrainian military’s South Operational Command reported on Sept. 26.
One drone was destroyed by air defense forces, the command said. Two others hit a military infrastructure facility, starting a large-scale fire and detonation of ammunition as a result. The firefighting and rescue operation at the scene of the attack continues. According information available at this time, there were no casualties.
An evacuation of the civilian population in the area near the ammunition depot was launched.
This is the second such attack in two days: On Sept. 25, the Russians attacked Odesa, hitting an administrative building in the city center three times with Iranian-supplied kamikaze drones.
The Russians also attacked Odesa with kamikaze drones from the sea on Sept. 23, resulting in one civilian was killed. One enemy drone was shot down by air defense forces over the sea.
Shahed drones in service with the Russians: What is known about Russia’s purchase of Iranian drones
The media reported in late August, citing representatives of Western intelligence, that Russia had obtained hundreds of Iranian combat drones.
According to CNN, Russia has officially purchased and transferred the Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series drones – the Shahed-129 and Shahed-191.
On Aug. 31, the White House officially confirmed the information about Russia’s purchase of Iranian drones. In early September, the United States imposed sanctions on an Iranian company it accused of coordinating military flights to transport Iranian drones to Russia and three other companies it said were involved in the production of Iranian drones.
Tehran has vigorously denied it was providing Moscow with any kind of military assistance.
Ukrainian forces first shot down an Iranian Shahed-136 loitering munition in the town of Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast, on Sept. 13.
Shared-136 drones were later used to attack Odesa and Dnipro, with six of them getting shot down on Sept. 23.
Ukraine has recently withdrawn the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador and imposed a significant reduction on the staff of the Iranian embassy in Kyiv, over Iran supplying Russia with drones to use in the war in Ukraine.
The first reports that Iran might supply Russia with kamikaze drones appeared over a month ago. Ukraine has since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion over seven months ago been pleading with its allies to provide it with adequate numbers of modern air defense systems.
However, only a small number of such systems have as yet been provided.
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