US army helping Ukraine target Russian drone launch sites
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Washington is reportedly helping Ukraine by providing Kiev with the location of Russian drones launch sites in light of the uptick in drone use by Moscow.
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Troops during drone exercises in Russia (Russian Defense Ministry)
The US military is helping Ukrainian forces target sites wherefrom Russia is preparing drones for launching, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing military, intelligence, and security officials.
However, the task is difficult because Russia is moving the launch sites around, NYT said.
The Americans are also seeking to provide Kiev with new technologies designed to enable early warning of approaching drone attacks to improve Ukraine’s chances of shooting the weapons down, the report added.
The United States, meanwhile, has reportedly launched a broad effort to stop Iran from manufacturing drones and allegedly delivering them to Russia for use in the Ukraine conflict, the newspaper added.
Iran has been facing accusations of having supplied weapons to Russia without any substantial evidence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went as far as claiming that Russia was deploying almost 2,500 attack drones purchased from Iran, namely the Iranian Shahed-136/Geran-2 UAVs.
Ukraine's accusations spiraled into the West adopting these claims, and now the United States is using the allegations as a card against Iran.
Russia struck a covert agreement with Iran that will see the former manufacturing hundreds of Iranian UAVs on Russian soil, Israel 24 News reported earlier in the month.
There is new intelligence from the United States and other Western states that touched on this "secret deal", the Israeli newspaper reported, further citing a Washington Post report from last month that said, "Moscow and Tehran had agreed in secret to begin manufacture of Iranian-designed drones on Russian soil."
Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier in November that it was necessary to conduct strikes on Iran due to Tehran allegedly supplying drones to Russia.
The fear the drones are inflicting on the Ukrainians has pushed Kiev to further seek air defense systems from its Western allies.
The usage of drones has prompted Ukraine's allies to come together in various ways to try and help Kiev, with Turkey and the United States sending in drones and the Israeli occupation providing Kiev with intelligence on the Iranian drones being used in Ukraine.
Iran and Ukraine were supposed to sit down and discuss the issue, but Kiev bailed out on the talks at the last second.
The Israeli occupation, meanwhile, spent millions of dollars to appease its western partners by procuring undisclosed strategic materials for Ukraine after "Tel Aviv" faced pressure to send the arms to Kiev via a third country, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Reportedly, the United States is the party that pressured the occupation, which had to go against its proclaimed stance to only send humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
