Ukraine deploys anti-drone specialists to Gulf to counter Iranian Shaheds

2026-03-17 - 23:09

The Ukrainian president said on Tuesday that 201 Ukrainian anti-drone specialists have been deployed across the Middle East to help counter Iranian Shahed drones, while an additional 34 stand ready to support these efforts. "Our teams are already in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and on the way to Kuwait. We are working with several other countries," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, speaking to around 60 parliamentarians in a Westminster committee room in the UK parliament, where NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was also present. US request Stressing that he does not want Iranian drones against its neighbors to succeed, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine sent these military experts "at the request of our partners, including the United States." "In fact, this is a part of drone deal we proposed to the United States, which we worked on together and which is still on the table, and we are ready to offer similar deals to all our reliable partners, from practical cooperation on drones to future defense alliances," he said. Russia-Iran cooperation He said that the Iranian drones are designed for the "low-cost destruction" of expensive critical infrastructure targets, noting Iran 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, highlighting the interconnected nature of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. "So what is happening around Iran today is not a faraway war for us because of the cooperation between Russia and Iran. And we do not believe we have the right to be indifferent." Cost-effective countermeasures Iranian Shahed drones cost about $50,000, but to shoot them down, partners often use missiles costing up to $4 million or combat aircraft. "Iranians knew that no air defense in the world would be enough to stop such drones, such number of drones, and we were the ones who changed that in Ukraine, we stopped one such drone with two or three interceptors, small interceptors costing less than $10,000 in total," said Zelenskyy. Production capacity The Ukrainian president also stated that Kyiv is now capable of producing at least 2,000 effective and combat-proven interceptors every day and added: "We can produce more," and it "depends on investment." "We need about 1,000 interceptors a day, and we can supply at least another 1,000 a day to our allies." He went on to say that if it needs to be stopped in Europe or in the UK, they can do it, adding it is a matter of technology, investment and cooperation. "This is the kind of reinforcement we offer, and it may soon be needed across Europe." UK support Welcoming Zelenskyy earlier in Downing Street, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said "the focus must remain on Ukraine" despite the Iran war, reaffirming British commitment to supporting Kyiv even as Middle East tensions escalate.