Over 200 Ukrainian military experts in Gulf region to counter Iran’s drones

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says Moscow and Tehran are ‘brothers in hatred’; claims Iran’s drones ‘contain Russian components’.More than 200 Ukrainian military experts are in the Gulf Region and wider Middle East helping governments in their defence against Iran’s drone attacks, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.In an address to dozens of members of the United Kingdom Parliament in London on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader said 201 Ukrainian anti-drone experts are in the region and another 34 “are ready to deploy”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Ukraine eyes money and tech in return for Middle East drone supportlist 2 of 4Starmer, Zelenskyy urge ‘focus’ on Ukraine as Iran war diverts attentionlist 3 of 4European leaders reject military involvement in Strait of Hormuzlist 4 of 4Ukraine, EU allies slam US decision to roll back Russia oil sanctionsend of list“These are military experts, experts who know how to help, how to defend against Shahed drones,” Zelenskyy said in his speech, referring to the Iranian-designed “kamikaze” drones that Russia has been using in its war against Ukraine since 2022.“Our teams are already in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and on the way to Kuwait,” the Ukrainian leader said.“We are working with several other countries – agreements are already in place. We do not want this terror of the Iranian regime against its neighbours to succeed,” he said.Last week, the Ukrainian leader said military teams had been sent to several Gulf states and Jordan.Zelenskyy, who met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO chief Mark Rutte earlier on Tuesday, said Russia had received the Shahed-136 drones from the Iranians, who had “taught Russia how to launch them and gave it the technology to produce them”.“Russia then upgraded them. And now we have clear evidence that Iranian Shaheds used in the region contain Russian components,” Zelenskyy said, describing the drones as designed for “low-cost destruction of expensive critical infrastructure”.