BLASTED

Ukraine Says It Shot Down One of Russia’s New Iranian Drones for First Time

The device was reportedly part of a shipment that Russia received recently in a bid to shore up its failing operations.

The Ukrainian military says it has “with a high degree of probability” shot down an Iranian drone that Russia recently acquired in a bid to shore up its failing military operations in the country. Wreckage of the Shahed-136 suicide drone was found near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, according to the military’s Strategic Communications Center, which shared photos of the debris on Telegram. “An analysis of the appearance of the drone’s wing elements allows us to confirm that the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed an Iranian UAV for the first time,” the agency said. U.S. intelligence officials have said Russia received its first shipment of the Iran-made drones in mid-August, though Tehran has denied the drones sale. The drones, capable of air-to-surface attacks, electronic warfare, and targeting, were thought to be a way for Russia to get a leg up on the battlefield amid major supply shortages and depleted manpower. U.S. officials said the first shipment was found to suffer from “numerous failures” that would make them less effective.