Multiple Western sources revealed that members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were monitored in areas under Russian control in the country UkrainianAccording to these sources, members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have traveled to Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine in order to help train Russian forces, according to the American Fox News.
The IRGC has been designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. A report by the Institute for the Study of War (IFSW) published last week said that Russian forces “probably” brought in personnel affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to train Russians in how to use Shahid-136 drones – another example of the warm relationship between Moscow and Tehran.
According to the report, on October 12, the Ukrainian Resistance Center announced that an “unspecified” number of trainers from Iran had arrived in Dzhankoy in the Crimea and the port of Zalzny and Hladivtsi in the Kherson region.
The British Daily Mirror confirmed this news and said that the number could reach 50 specialists in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The US Department of Defense told Fox News it “has nothing to add at this time” in response to the reports.
The European Union is looking for hard evidence
For his part, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Monday that the European Union is seeking compelling evidence of any Iranian involvement in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“We will look for irrefutable evidence of (Iran’s) involvement in the Ukraine war,” he told reporters upon arrival at the European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg, adding that Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba would take part in the meeting.
In addition, the Resistance Center confirmed that the Iranian trainers directly control the launch of drones at civilian targets, including in the Mykolaiv and Odessa regions.
While the Resistance Center only identified the trainers as Iranian, another report indicated that the IRGC is the primary operator of the Iranian drone stockpile, making it “likely” that the trainers are either members of the IRGC or at least affiliated with the group.
Russia intensified its bomb attacks in the wake of the Crimean bridge explosion, firing 80 cruise missiles at Ukraine “in retaliation” for the “attack” on the Kerch bridge. Russian officials said a fuel tank explosion damaged part of the bridge linking Russia to Crimea, causing part of the structure to fall into the water. Three people were killed in the explosion, presumably passengers in a car next to the truck that exploded.
Tehran has repeatedly claimed that it is not involved in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, but critics have questioned this situation as Shahed-136 aircraft, also known as “kamikaze drones”, began appearing on the front lines. Moscow received the drones over the summer as officials turned to North Korea and Iran to help replenish dwindling supplies of weapons, including artillery shells and missiles.
Russian forces encountered technical problems while trying to deploy Shahid-136 drones, but they started using the drones in mid-September, as Ukrainian forces claimed to have shot down some of the drones.