Russia inflicted 'serious damage' to Ukrainian army by deploying Iranian drones: Report

Amid ongoing ravaging war in Eastern Europe, Ukraine claimed that Russia recently introduced Iranian drones and used m extensively for first time since onset of conflict in late February.  Iranian Kamikaze drones, also known as 'suicide drones' have created new dangers and inflicted serious damage to Ukrainian Armed Forces,  Wall  Street Journal (WSJ) reported. Col. Rodion Kulagin, commander of artillery of Ukraine’s 92nd Mechanized Brige, claimed that Iran's Shahed-136 delta-wing drones that have been painted in Russian colours and given new name 'Geranium 2' have begun to fly over Ukrainian armour and artillery sites in Kharkiv region for last few days. 

Col. Kulagin furr stated that Iranian drones have alrey destroyed two 152 mm and two 122 mm self-propelled howitzers, as well as two BTR armoured infantry vehicles, in operational area of his brige. According to him,  Iranian drones have so far primarily been deployed in Kharkiv region, where 92nd Brige and or Ukrainian forces gave a fitting response to Russia's strikes. “In or areas, Russians have overwhelming artillery firepower, and y manage with that. Here, y no longer have that artillery vantage, and so y have started to resort to se drones,” Ukrainian commander told WSJ. 

Meanwhile, independent experts, who reviewed images of recent drone wreckage from Kharkiv region, confirmed that y are of Shahed-136, latest version of Tehran’s delta-wing design. According to Scott Crino, founder and CEO of Red Six Solutions LLC, a strategic consulting company, Shahed-136 might offer Russia a formidable alternative to cutting-edge weaponry that US has given to Ukraine, such as Himars missile launchers. " presence of Shahed-136 in Ukraine war is undoubtedly changing operational plans of Kyiv. sheer size of Ukraine's battlefield makes it hard to defend against such drones," he ded. 

ISW confirms use of Iranian-provided drones by Russia

It should be noted here that Kamikaze drones are unmanned aircraft that don’t fire missiles but are missiles. y are capable of circling above a target and waiting for perfect moment to strike with incredible precision. Earlier in August, Institute for Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank, also stated that Russian Armed Forces are using Iranian-provided drones in Ukraine. Meanwhile,  Ukrainian government claimed that Iran has handed over as many as 46 drones to Russia. 

Image: AP