In its attack on Ukraine, Russia has also been using Iranian drones for some time. A copy of the Mohajer-6 model was dismantled by the Ukrainian military intelligence service after it was successfully shot down. In it he finds many Western components - and one from home.
When examining a shot down Iranian Mohajer-6 drone, the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR found out that a Ukrainian component was also used. Because of the sanctions against Iran, household items were also installed. Therefore, the combat and reconnaissance drone is of poorer quality, the HRU reports on Telegram.
The Mohajer-6 was shot down over the Black Sea on September 23. Three quarters of the installed components are said to come from US production. Other components are of Japanese, Chinese, Austrian, Swedish and Ukrainian origin. It's just a single Ukrainian component, "but it's there," a secret service agent is quoted as saying. "We will find out how it got to Iran."
It had already been reported in May that the Russian defense industry was also running out of components and spare parts for tanks and rockets due to Western sanctions. Citing Ukrainian sources, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo stated at a US Senate hearing that semiconductors from dishwashers and refrigerators had been discovered in Russian military equipment. NATO now suspects that Russia has used up a significant portion of its precision-guided ammunition and can hardly produce any more supplies - hence the presumed use of Iranian drones.
However, despite its friendly relations with Russia, Iran denies that it sold drones to the Russian army for use in the war against Ukraine. "We deny the allegations in this regard and are also prepared to discuss and resolve this in bilateral technical meetings with Kyiv," Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian was recently quoted as saying.
Findings from the Ukrainian leadership and the US government paint a different picture. According to its own statements, the Ukrainian military has shot down more than 300 Shahed-136 kamikaze drones since mid-September, which Russia is said to have bought in Iran. According to the US government, the Russian troops are even supported in the drone attacks by Iranian military in the annexed Crimea.
