200 Ukrainian Experts Aiding in Countering Iranian Drones: Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy said that drones, particularly low-cost attack drones, have significantly altered the nature of modern warfare
London: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that around 200 Ukrainian air defence experts are currently deployed in the Middle East to help counter Iranian drone attacks, CNN reported.
Speaking at the British Parliament during his visit to the United Kingdom, Zelenskyy said that drones, particularly low-cost attack drones, have significantly altered the nature of modern warfare.
Highlighting the cost disparity, he noted that while each Iranian drone costs about USD 50,000, the US and its allies are using missiles worth nearly USD 4 million to intercept them, according to CNN.
Ukraine has faced sustained drone and missile assaults after Russia increased production of Iranian-designed Shahed drones last year.
Amid shortages of Western-supplied air defence systems, Kyiv developed a layered defence approach using electronic warfare, helicopters, modified cargo aircraft, and ground-based systems, including heavy machine guns and surface-to-air missiles, CNN reported.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is willing to share its expertise, adding that the country can produce around 2,000 interceptor drones daily and could supply about half of them to allies.
Meanwhile, in a speech to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Zelenskyy spoke at length about the US-Israel war against Iran, Al Jazeera reported.
He said Russia had begun receiving “Shahed” drones from Iran a few years ago and later upgraded them.
“The regimes in Russia and Iran are brothers in hatred, and that is why they are brothers in weapons,” the Ukrainian president said, according to Al Jazeera.
“And we want regimes built on hatred to never win, in anything,” he added.
Meanwhile, Iran has confirmed that security chief Ali Larijani and Basij force commander Gholamreza Soleimani have been killed, Al Jazeera reported, citing state media.
A series of explosions also struck Baghdad, including areas near the United States Embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone.
Furthermore, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has resigned over the war on Iran, stating that the country posed “no imminent threat,” Al Jazeera reported.
Israel has carried out airstrikes on three neighbourhoods in Beirut while also launching fresh attacks on Tehran, according to the Israeli military.
Missile and drone attacks have continued across the Gulf region, with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates reporting interceptions, Al Jazeera reported.