Eleven countries have requested Kyiv’s help in countering Shahed-type drones amid the Iran war and Tehran's ongoing attacks against the Gulf states, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week.
The head of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy said that by providing drone support to Israel, Ukraine has “effectively become involved in the war.”
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Ebrahim Azizi wrote in a post on X that the entire country has become a target for Iran.
Eleven countries have requested Kyiv’s help in countering Shahed-type drones amid the Iran war and Tehran's ongoing attacks against the Gulf states, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week.
Zelenskyy said that Kyiv has reviewed in detail all the requests for “security support from our side in countering “shahed” drones and other similar challenges.
He explained that Ukraine is willing to help, but only those who help Kyiv “protect the lives of Ukrainians and the independence of Ukraine.” He did not specify which countries would not get Ukraine’s assistance in drone warfare.
“Some requests have already been met with concrete decisions and specific support," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy earlier stated that Kyiv has already deployed interceptor drones and a team of specialists to help protect US military bases in Jordan.
As Russia’s full-scale invasion entered its fifth year, Ukraine’s drone interception rate stands at around 80%.
Since 2022 Kyiv has developed a complex and multi-layered air defence system against drones, which includes mobile fire groups, often using pickup trucks armed with heavy machine guns, various electronic warfare and Ukraine’s domestically developed interceptors.
According to Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, over 70% of all Shahed-type drones targeting the capital and the Kyiv region were shot down by interceptors in February.
Iran has been one of Russia’s closest allies since the beginning of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Tehran first supplied Russia with Shahed-type drones to attack Ukraine and later shared the technology, allowing Moscow to set up production domestically.