Iran Accused of Assisting Russia in Building Drone Factory for Ukraine War, Says US Intelligence

WASHINGTON – The United States (US) government says Iran has given Russia materials to build manufacturing plants drone east of Moscow as the Kremlin seeks to lock up weapons supplies for its invasion of Ukraine.

The accusation was made by the White House on Friday (9/6/2023) when releasing American intelligence findings.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, was quoted as saying APsaid that American intelligence officials believed the factory in Russia’s Alabuga special economic zone could become operational early next year.

The White House also released satellite imagery taken in April of an industrial site, several hundred miles east of Moscow, where it was believed the factory might be built.

President Joe Biden’s administration publicly stated in December that it believed Tehran and Moscow were considering building assembly lines drone in Russia for the Ukrainian war.

American intelligence findings indicate that the project, in the Yelabuga region of Tatarstan, has exceeded conception.

Iran says it has provided drone to Russia before the start of the war but not since.

Kirby said US officials had also determined that Iran was continuing to supply the Russian military with Tehran-made one-way combat drones—drone shipped across the Caspian Sea, from Amirabad in Iran to Makhachkala, Russia, and then used by Moscow’s forces in the war against Ukraine.