"Suicide drones" in Ukraine: five minutes to understand Iran's role in these attacks

These are new high-impact devices, which worry the Ukrainian authorities, as well as their Western supporters.

Kamikaze drones carried out a strike in the Kyiv region of Ukraine, injuring one person on Wednesday.

These devices, according to the Ukrainian forces, would be of Iranian manufacture.

A discovery that reinforces the suspicion, already weighing for several months, of military aid from Iran to Russia.

What do these drones look like?

Two types of drones, used for reconnaissance operations, missile launches or bomb drops, have been spotted in Ukraine since the start of the offensive in February.

First there is the "Shahed 136", a "suicide drone", also called "kamikaze drone", with a very long range (up to 2,500 km).

It is "fairly large, low-cost construction", explained the researcher associated with the Sirice Pierre Grasser center, to AFP, at the end of September.

🇺🇦 На Харківщині росіяни застосовують іранські БПЛА «Shahed-136» для ураження артилерії та бронетехніки України

Військові сподіваються, що союзники України нададуть технології протидії або зірвуть постачання цих БПЛА до Росіїhttps://t.co/YDRe79mqD6#Україна #Ukraine

— Мілітарний (@mil_in_ua) September 17, 2022

This drone's mission is to explode once it has identified its target.

“It reaches its target by GPS coordinates, entered before takeoff.

It then evolves in autonomy, flying quite low and reaching a target which is necessarily fixed at a few hundred kilometers.

Another model, the "Mohajer-6", has also been identified.

It is an observation and attack drone, capable of carrying, according to the American Institute for the Study of War, “hovering bombs and anti-tank missiles”.

🇺🇦🇮🇷 Українські військові показали захоплений сучасний іранський ударний безпілотник «Mohajer-6»

Безпілотник захоплений з іранськими авіабомбами «Ghaem-5»https://t.co/7dd9GlJWUH#Україна #Іран #Ukraine

— Мілітарний (@mil_in_ua) October 3, 2022

These drones, which constitute a whole new type of weapon of war, can prove to be very effective "when the adversary does not have the means to protect himself from them or to retaliate", judges the researcher at Ifri Jean-Christophe Noël , with AFP.

Capable of hitting only stationary targets, these devices, which have previously targeted refineries in Saudi Arabia, could target critical infrastructure in Ukraine, such as power plants, according to US intelligence.

On the ground, Ukraine also has its own autonomous devices, such as Switchblades, equipped with on-board cameras and made in the United States.

Ukraine also has Turkish-made drones, the Bayraktar TB2, which have multiplied strikes against Russian forces.

Why are these drones worrying?

The Shahed and Mohajer drones are Iranian-made, which means that Iran supplied weapons to Russia and would technically support it in its offensive in Ukraine.

In August, the Institute for the Study of War, an American think tank which analyzes the progress of the conflict on a daily basis, already suspected Russia and Iran of agreeing on the delivery of drones for the benefit of Moscow.

In exchange for these weapons, Moscow, for example, "launched a satellite into orbit on behalf of Iran", details the institute.

Diplomatically, this collaboration would cast a new chill between Iran and the major Western powers such as the United States or the European Union, which sided with kyiv in February.

At the end of September, the United States strongly condemned this exchange.

"Iran's use of missiles and drones against its neighbours, as well as its shipments of drones to Russia against Ukraine and through intermediaries in the Middle East must be universally condemned," the adviser told the White House national security, Jake Sullivan, who had already issued the alert in July.

Why does Russia buy from Iran?

The use of these Iranian devices would be a sign, according to some analysts, that Russia is suffering from deficiencies in its military arsenal.

“The Ministry of Defense has developed appropriate tactical and technical requirements for drones.

And most (Russian) manufacturers, unfortunately, are not able to comply with them,” Russian Colonel Igor Ichchuk previously explained, as quoted by the TASS news agency.

In question, personnel problems, which are lacking to make, in particular, the Orlan reconnaissance drones.

But also, possibly, the consequence of Western sanctions, and the pandemic, which lead to supply problems.

How does Ukraine react to this supposed Iranian support for Russia?

In retaliation, Ukraine already "significantly" reduced Iran's diplomatic presence there at the end of September, according to the local presidency.

Kyiv has removed the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador and "significantly" reduced the diplomatic staff of the Iranian embassy.

Read alsoWar in Ukraine: why Russia maintains the vagueness around the borders of the annexed regions

How does Iran respond to these accusations?

Iran has not clearly denied supplying drones to Russia.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, deplored the reaction of kyiv which reduced its diplomatic staff, deeming this decision “regrettable”, and considering that it is based on “unfounded information relayed by the propaganda of foreign media”.