Russia-Ukraine war: Iran to help Russia build drones

Russia has reportedly reached an agreement with Iran to build drones for Moscow. The alleged agreement comes amidst Moscow’s ongoing barrage of strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

In a report by the Washington Post over the weekend, Moscow and Tehran have allegedly come to an agreement to start the production of hundreds of unmanned aircraft on Russian soil, according to intelligence reports seen by the US and other western countries. The report added that Russian and Iranian officials finalized the deal during a meeting in Tehran early this month.

Three officials familiar with the matter said that the two countries have started transferring designs and key components that would allow production to start in a matter of months.

Meanwhile, the Polish defense minister said Monday that Warsaw and Germany have agreed to deploy additional Patriot missile launchers near the border Poland shares with Ukraine after Berlin offered to do so. Berlin offered Warsaw the Patriot missile defense system to help secure its airspace following last week’s crash of a stray missile on Polish soil, according to German defense minister Christine Lambrecht.

“The German defense minister confirmed her willingness to deploy the Patriot launcher at the border with Ukraine,” tweeted Polish defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak. “The version of the system remains to be determined, as does how quickly they will reach us and how long they will be stationed.”

The German government announced that it would offer Poland further assistance in air policing with German Eurofighters following the missile crash. The incident initially raised fears that the ongoing war in Ukraine could spill over.

On the same day, the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said that, along with authorities, they found four places in the newly-reclaimed Kherson region which they suspect were where Russian forces tortured people before they withdrew from the city. The office shared in a post on the Telegram messaging platform that Russian forces have established “pseudo-law enforcement agencies” in detention centers and a police building in the area.

The police, prosecutors, and experts based their findings on the documents signed by Russian forces that occupied Kherson before withdrawing this month. Investigators also found objects in the buildings, including parts of rubber batons, a wooden bat, handcuffs, and an incandescent lamp. Bullets were also found in the walls, according to the statement by the office.