Russia says evidence of Iranian drone use in Ukraine “ridiculous”

“The supposed ‘photo evidence’ is completely ridiculous. A ‘photo’ of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky in front of what was said to be a Shahed drone went viral in the media. The drone in question is three meters long and has a wingspan of two meters,” Nebenzya noted.

“That said, the Ukrainian president must be about two and half meters tall. Internet users have long made fun of the photo. Other pieces of physical evidence include an unclear photo of some wreckage with no indications of its Iranian origin,” the Russian envoy added.

“Judging by the language of letters and the (UN) document, even their authors aren’t sure that their conclusions are justified,” he continued.

“The choice of words seems to be aimed at removing the responsibility from London for the reliability of the information provided to the UN Security Council. This is what references to some initial assessments point to, which make it clear that the UK had not even been able to complete the so-called examination of the alleged drones,” he stated.

According to him, the goal of these speculations is “to fill reports by the UN secretary general the Council’s 2231 facilitator with negativity since there are no objective facts, distracting attention from violations by the Western parties of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [on Iran’s nuclear program] and US violations of Resolution 2231,” Nebenzya emphasized.

Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly refuted reports about Iranian drone supplies and their use in Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov blasted these reports as bogus and stressed that the Russian army used domestically-made drones. In November 2022, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that the country had supplied drones to Ukraine but in small numbers and months before the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.