Russia ordered 1,700 Shahed kamikaze UAVs from Iran

In the summer, Russia reached an agreement with Iran to supply 1,700 Shahed loitering munitions.

Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, discussed this.

According to him, as of now, Russia has already launched approximately 540 of these drones.

“Due to the contract signed in the summer, Russia purchased 1,700 Shahed drones from Iran, which are supplied in batches,” Kyrylo Budanov said.

Budanov mentioned that the cost of production In Iran is about $7,000 per unit.

Although it is unclear what exactly Iran is requesting from Russia in exchange for these weapons.

Since October, Russia has shelled Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with volleys of missiles and drones at intervals of about a week to 10 days.

An average of about 75 missiles were fired in each round.

Budanov mentioned that Russia is also counting on Tehran to replenish its missile arsenal.

To persuade Iran to support the effort, Russia has offered technologies to the Iranian military industry. However, Tehran has been slow to hand over missiles.

“Iran is not in a rush to make this happen, for obvious reasons, because as soon as Russia fires the first missiles, the sanctions pressure will grow,” Budanov said.

In November, it was reported that Moscow agreed with Tehran to produce Iranian unmanned combat aerial vehicles in Russia.