Iranians oversaw Russia’s first Shahed attacks on Ukrainian cities, Zelensky says

Representatives from Iran were present during the first launches of Shahed kamikaze drones by Russia on Ukrainian cities because initially, almost none of the Russians could operate these weapons.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in an interview with Ukrainian Radio, Ukrinform reports.

"As per Ukrainian intelligence, representatives from Iran were present during the first, murderous, Shahed attacks on Ukrainian cities, because at first, almost none of the Russians could operate these weapons," he said.

Zelensky considers Iran's participation in this war not passive, but active, since Tehran supplies Moscow with drones, which are lethal weapons.

"They claim they only sell, that this is just business, but this isn’t just business, because licenses for these drones were handed over to Russia, factories were set up. Moveover, they trained Russian troops. Were the Iranians on Russian territory, teaching them how to fly drones? Yes, they were," the head of state said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office charged in absentia the Iranian general, who trained the Russians to attack Ukraine with Shahed-type attack drones and personally coordinated 20 strikes.

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