Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia and Iran of being “brothers in hatred,” asserting that Iran’s drones include components of Russian origin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that over 200 Ukrainian military experts are currently stationed in the Gulf and broader Middle East, assisting governments in defending against Iran’s drone attacks.
Speaking to members of the United Kingdom Parliament in London on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said 201 anti-drone specialists are already deployed in the region, with an additional 34 “ready to deploy.”
“These are military experts—specialists who know how to defend against Shahed drones,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, referring to the Iranian-designed “kamikaze” drones that Russia has used in its war against Ukraine since 2022.
“Our teams are already deployed in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and are en route to Kuwait,” he added.
“We are cooperating with several other countries—agreements are already in place. We will not allow the Iranian regime’s terror against its neighbours to succeed,” Zelenskyy emphasized.
Last week, he noted, Ukrainian military teams had also been sent to Gulf states and Jordan.
Speaking after meetings with Keir Starmer and NATO chief Mark Rutte, Zelenskyy said Russia had received Shahed-136 drones from Iran, which “taught Russia how to launch them and provided the technology for production.”
Russia later upgraded these drones, and we now have clear evidence that Iranian Shaheds used in the region contain Russian components,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing the drones as tools for the “low-cost destruction of expensive critical infrastructure.”
So what is happening around Iran today is not a distant conflict for us, given the cooperation between Russia and Iran,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“The regimes in Russia and Iran are united by hatred, and that is why they are also united in weapons. We will not allow regimes built on hatred to prevail in anything,” he added.
Zelenskyy also highlighted Ukraine’s growing expertise in drone warfare and production, claiming that 90 percent of Russian losses on the front lines are being “caused by our drones.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine has progressed from producing sea and aerial drones to manufacturing interceptors designed to target other drones. He added that the country can produce at least 2,000 interceptors per day—half reserved for its own defense, with the remainder available for Kyiv’s allies.
“If a Shahed drone needs to be stopped in the Emirates, we can do it. If it needs to be stopped in Europe or the United Kingdom, we can do it. It’s a matter of technology, investment, and cooperation,” he said.
Although Ukraine has become one of the world’s leading producers of battlefield-tested drone interceptors, Donald Trump has stated he does not require Ukraine’s assistance in countering Iranian drones targeting military assets in the Middle East.
After meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy at 10 Downing Street, Keir Starmer said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot be the one to benefit from the conflict in Iran, whether through oil prices or the easing of sanctions.”
During Zelenskyy’s visit on Tuesday, London and Kyiv signed a defence partnership agreement, aimed at combining “Ukraine’s expertise and the UK’s industrial base to manufacture and supply drones and other innovative capabilities.”
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