Zelenskyy: Iranians launched first Shaheds at Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo: REUTERS/Alina Smutko)
The first Shahed
kamikaze drones attacking Ukraine in 2022 were launched by Iranian operators
who trained Russian crews, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on
March 12.
Zelenskyy made the comments at a press conference in Bucharest with his Romanian counterpart, Nicusor Dan.
“We know how the first Shahed drones were launched; there were no 'Russian' operators,” said Zelenskyy.
“There were operators from another country — the country the Shaheds came from. They had to be trained, and they trained them in a real war. So … Iran has long been an ally of Russia, both on paper and in real actions.”
He added that Iran supplied weapons to Russia before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In October 2022, The New York Times reported
that the Kremlin had struggled to use Iranian kamikaze drones it had purchased
to hit Ukraine's civilian infrastructure. To assist Russian operators, IRGC
instructors traveled to occupied Crimea.
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