Ukraine has proposed to its Western allies that it attack factories for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles in Iran, Syria and Russia, the British newspaper "The Guardian" reported Wednesday night, citing a secret document that it says the government in Kiev gave to its allies last month. In the document, Ukraine also requests long-range missiles in order to be able to carry out such attacks on its own, if the Western countries are afraid to carry them out themselves.
More stories:
'Although it is not clear whether Ukraine is seriously considering this possibility, the mere raising of the idea indicates the great concern in Kiev about the tightening alliance between Iran and Russia, an alliance that also causes concern in Israel and the US.
2 View gallery
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has floated the idea of bombing Russian and Iranian drone factories
(Photos: Drew Angerer/Getty Images, AFP)
The 47-page document includes new details about the Iranian Shahad suicide drones, which have been used by Russia in many attacks on Ukrainian cities. On Thursday morning another 44 such drones were launched at targets throughout the Ukraine, and 34 of them were intercepted according to Kiev. Iran, according to the document, is having trouble meeting the growing demand from Russia for these drones, and has worked to diversify their production with a factory in Syria. Now, the document claims, production is moving to Russia itself, in the Tatarstan region, although Iran continues to supply the components which make up the aircraft.
In the document, Ukraine propses to carry out "missile attacks on the production plants of these drones in Iran, Syria as well as a potential production site in Russia." The proposal is expected to be rejected by the West, and the document includes another proposal: "The above may be carried out by the Ukrainian defense forces if partners provide the necessary means of destruction" - a reference to Kiev's demand for long-range missiles, when according to a report last week the US is expected to approve the transfer of such missiles for defensive use within the borders of Ukraine.
It is not clear how serious Ukraine is in this proposal, but only recently there were reports about a covert operation by its forces far beyond Europe, in Africa. CNN reported last week that an investigation it conducted indicates that Ukrainian special forces were probably behind a series of UAV attacks and ground operations In Sudan. These attacks, according to the report, were directed against the RSF militia, which has been fighting the Sudanese army for many months, and is believed to be linked to the military mercenary Wagner Group.
2 View gallery
Damage caused by a drone sent from Russia to Ukraine
(Photo: Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office/via REUTERS)
"The Guardian" focused on another detail from the secret document: According to Ukraine, the Iranian drones include many components of manufactured in the West, in a way that raises questions about their supervision. According to the document, in the remains of the Shahad-131 drone model that fell in Ukraine, 52 components were discovered that are manufactured In Western countries. Some 57 such components were discovered in the remains of the "Shahad-136" model. The document lists the names of five European companies that produce the same components, and states that the various companies are located in the Netherlands, Germany and Poland - but also in non-European countries such as the US, Canada and Japan.
According to "The Guardian," the document does not make allegations of prohibited behavior on the part of those companies, and indicates that the components are imported to Iran through other countries such as Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Costa Rica. At the same time, Bart Groothuis, a member of the European Union Parliament who sits on the Security Affairs Committee, told the British newspaper that there is a lack of coordination between European intelligence services when it comes to the improper use of Western technologies.
The Russian drone attacks continue, and on Thursday morning, Ukraine reported one of the largest attacks in recent weeks. According to Kiev, Russia launched 44 Shahad drones to the regions of Mykolaiv and Odessa in the south of the country and Kirovohrad in the center; 34 were intercepted. Although no casualties were reported, authorities said that several of the drones hit their targets. They did not disclose those targets.