The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that dozens of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones that had been launched on Monday by Russia in a long-range blitz on city centers across Ukraine were shot down by Ukraine’s air defense systems (Hopeless ‘kamikaze’ drones show Vladimir Putin’s war machine is floundering), and many were destroyed before hitting their targets.
Now it appears that Ukraine has been relying on Israeli intelligence in shooting down those drones.
Russia shot more than 80 cruise missiles and 24 drones at Ukraine’s cities––including the capital Kyiv––during the morning rush hour on Monday.
The Telegraph cited Ukraine’s intelligence services’ claim that Russia has ordered 2,400 of the drones, designed to hover over their targets for hours before launching suicide strikes. Now those drones appear ineffective, immobile, easily detectable, and unable to select and destroy sensitive military targets.
Scraps of an intercepted “Shahed-136” kamikaze drone are scattered in the sky over the Zhytomyr region. pic.twitter.com/jKLREUGvWz
— ТРУХА⚡️English (@TpyxaNews) October 12, 2022
The New York Times on Thursday offered an insight as to why Ukraine has been so successful against those drones, which Iran had used successfully in the past against targets in the Middle East (Western Nations Rush Defensive Systems to Ukraine to Counter Russian Missiles).
Ukraine asked Israel to sell it air defense systems such as the Iron Dome and the longer-range Barak 8 systems, but Israel has not agreed, given Russia’s ominous military presence only a few miles north of Israel’s border with Syria. But the Times cited a senior Ukrainian official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, who revealed that Israel gave Ukraine intelligence about those Iranian drones and a private Israeli company is providing Ukraine with satellite imagery of Russian troop positions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked in an evening video message Wednesday the Western allies’ assistance to Ukraine in protecting the skies, calling it “one of the most significant humanitarian tasks for Europe of our time.”
“First of all, they discussed providing our country with anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems,” Zelensky added. “The more audacious and cruel Russian terror becomes, the more obvious it is to the world that helping Ukraine to protect the sky is one of the most important humanitarian tasks for Europe of our time.”
Here’s a thought: we noted earlier on Thursday that 13 NATO countries declared on Thursday their urgent interest in procuring the Arrow 3, a product of Israel’s Aerospace Industries (Terrified of Putin, 13 NATO Countries Want Israel’s Arrow 3). Now it appears that Russia’s other weapon against Ukraine and the West, the Iranian Shahed-136 drones, is also being thwarted, courtesy of Israeli know-how. With that in mind, how long before Russia realizes who contributes so effectively to its defeat in Ukraine?
