The war in the Middle East is dominating the news but Ukraine is still under fire from Russia. Kyiv is now offering insight into shooting down Iranian drones in exchange for continued support from its allies.
https://p.dw.com/p/5AJAHUkraine has learned much about Iranian drones in more than four years defending itself against Russia Image: Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo/picture allianceAdvertisementAs the war in Iran pushes Ukraine's fight against Russian invaders off the front pages, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is working to leverage hard-won lessons learned on the battlefield in more than four years of war to inspire allies to continue their support for his besieged nation.
With some Western allies — especially the US under President Donald Trump — less than enthusiastic about continuing to provide assistance to Ukraine as it fends off Russian invaders, Kyiv suddenly has something its allies desperately want and need, effective anti-drone technology.
Russia has peppered Ukraine with more than 57,000 Iranian-made Shahed drones since launching its invasion on February 24, 2022, the same type of mass-produced drones that Iran is now launching at its neighbors across the Middle East.
Ukraine has already dispatched teams of experts to the Middle East since Israel and the US launched their war against Iran, specifically to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE); and President Zelenskyy has been actively making the rounds to European allies keen to protect their assets as Russia tests their readiness, mainly along NATO's eastern flank, with regular drone incursions.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy and Romanian President Nicusor Dan signed a letter of intent for the production of drones in the eastern European NATO country.
Zelenskyy, who has clearly stated Ukraine's offer to form joint-partnerships with allies, will travel to Paris on Friday.
There, the Ukrainian leader will meet with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to discuss defense cooperation as well as the impact of the Iran war on oil prices and what this means for Ukraine.
How the US-Iran conflict helps Russia and hurts UkraineTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Russia, which largely uses illicit gas and oil revenues to finance its invasion of Ukraine, has been buoyed by US sanctions and tariff exemptions for nations buying Russian oil and gas as the new US-Israeli war on Iran sends global energy prices skyrocketing.
Zelenskyy on Thursday said Ukraine is still waiting for the White House to sign a major drone production agreement put forth by Kyiv last year.
Writing on social media, Zelenskyy said the proposed US deal would cover drones and air defense systems built to operate as a connected system with the ability to disable swarms of hundreds or even thousands of Shahed drones.
Two key selling points for Zelenskyy will be price point and scalable production.
Although Ukraine has received a number of anti-aircraft defense batteries from allies, such as top of the line US-made Patriot missile systems, these are expensive and complicated to make and replace.
Left to fend for itself, Ukraine and its people have risen to the existential threat posed by Russia, finding inventive ways to pioneer effective yet cheap drone-killing technology.
Ukraine has rewritten the handbook on air-defense technology as a result, mass producing anti-air interceptor drones for just a few thousands dollars each, while Patriot missiles — 60 to 65 of which are produced each month — carry a price tag between $3 million and $4 million each (€2.6 million and €3.5 million).
Iran's mass-produced Shaheds cost between $130,000 and $150,000 each.
During a widely covered dressing down in the Oval Office in February of last year, US President Trump famously berated Zelenskyy, yelling at him, "you don't have the cards" to defeat Russia.
Now, it seems he may in fact have cards that his Western allies would very much like to possess, too, opening an opportunity for him to leverage his nation's drone fighting prowess in forcing an end to Russia's ongoing war of aggression.
How Ukraine shoots down Russia's drones on a budgetTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
