Russians train war drone operators in Sevastopol

The Russian military has started training operators of Iranian and Russian-made UAVs. It takes place based on an educational institution in Sevastopol.

This is stated in the morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

The press service reports that operators of Iranian and Russian UAVs are being trained in one of the educational institutions of Sevastopol. 

“The training period for these specialists is up to three weeks. Currently, about 30 servicemen are being trained,” the General Staff said.

The joint production of Iranian drones

On November 19, The Washington Post reported that Russian terrorists and their partners from Iran agreed to produce drones for use in the war against Ukraine jointly.

“After weeks of savaging Ukrainian cities with Iranian-made drones, Moscow has quietly agreed with Tehran to begin manufacturing hundreds of unmanned weaponized aircraft on Russian soil, according to new intelligence seen by the U.S. and other Western security agencies,” is said in the message.

Strike drones will be produced in Russia. The parties have already concluded a non-public agreement and should start work within a few months.

New intelligence on cooperation between Russia and Iran

“According to new intelligence obtained by the U.S. and other Western security services, after weeks of attacks on Ukrainian cities using Iranian-made drones, Moscow has quietly reached an agreement with Tehran to begin production of hundreds of unmanned aircraft with weapons on Russian territory,” the report said.

In cooperation with Iran, the Russians got a chance to get their assembly line and dramatically increase their stocks of relatively inexpensive but destructive weapons systems.

Iran believes it can avoid sanctions because drones will be created in Russia.

Recent events evolving Iranian drones:

• On August 30, it became known that Iran secretly supplies Russia with attack drones used in the war against Ukraine. Later, Dmytro Kuleba warned Iran about the consequences that would affect it if it decided to help Russia.

• On November 4, U.S. intelligence officials expressed that Iran is seeking Russia’s help to strengthen its nuclear weapons program. The U.S. National Security Council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, noted that the United States would make every effort to prevent cooperation between Russia and Iran in the nuclear sector.

• On November 5, Iran admitted for the first time that it had supplied drones to Russia. At the same time, the Foreign Minister claims that Tehran allegedly did not know about using drones against Ukraine. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that if Kyiv has “any documents” indicating the use of Iranian drones by Russia, “they should provide them to us.”

Russia hopes for Iran’s continuous help

Russia already has several unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, used mainly for surveillance and artillery detection. But Moscow has not invested in large fleets of armed drones that U.S. forces have routinely used in Afghanistan and the Middle East military campaigns. 

Having spent thousands of its precision-guided missiles on strikes in Ukraine, Russia is increasingly turning to its Iranian partner for strike drones.