May 24 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Iranians on Wednesday to reconsider the supply of deadly drones to Russia in order to stop their slide into “the dark side of history.”
Iranian-made Shahed drones supplied to Moscow have played a major role in Russia’s attacks on cities and infrastructure, though Zelenskiy said Kyiv’s air defences were now skilled at downing them – about 900 of 1,160 aimed at Ukrainian targets.
“The simple question is this: what is your interest in being an accomplice to Russian terror?” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
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“What is the benefit to Iran of such cynical killing? By Russian hands, but with your weapons, your weapons…Your Shaheds, which terrorise Ukraine every night, mean only that the people of Iran are being driven deeper and deeper into the dark side of history.”
Russia has boosted its military cooperation with Iran since it launched its invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
[aesop_image img=”https://kayhanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022-10-28T120327Z_1314508283_MT1SIPA000AC4PC4_RTRMADP_3_SIPA-USA.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”REUTERS./” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”FILE PHOTO: An Iranian woman who lives in Ukraine, holds a placard with the likenesses of Vladimir Putin and Ali Khamenei during a protest against Iran’s government and deliveries of Iranian drones to Russia in central Kyiv. ” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
Iran initially denied supplying Shahed drones to Russia but later said it had provided a small number before the conflict began.
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(Reporting by Ron Popeski; editing by Diane Craft)
