To operate drone strikes on the territory of Ukraine, the Russians are allegedly recruiting foreign mercenaries.

The Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported this.

Defence Intelligence came in possession of another intercepted invaders’ conversation during a massive missile attack with the use of kamikaze drones on February 10. The recording captured two Shahed drone operators specifying the target coordinates.

They spoke in a Kurdish dialect with the addition of words in Farsi.

“That is, the command of the invasion forces not only involves Iranian instructors who teach Russians how to operate drones to attack the territory of Ukraine. This interception may indicate that Kurdish mercenaries who have experience in the combat use of Shahed drones are also fighting on the side of the Russians,” the statement of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reads.

They also added that during the operations in Syria, Russian troops have already engaged units consisting of Kurdish and Afghan mercenaries.

During the attack on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine on February 10, 2023, the Ukrainian Air Force Command reported that the Ukrainian military destroyed 25 Shahed-136 UAVs – 5 in the morning, and 20 in the evening.

As previously reported, Russia and Iran are moving ahead with plans to build a plant for the production of combat drones in the city of Yelabuga in Tatarstan.

It is planned that the plant will be able to manufacture up to 6,000 UAVs per year.