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21-10-2022
KYIV/ WASHINGTON: The White House has accused Iran of being “directly engaged on the ground” in Russian-occupied Crimea, helping to train the country’s forces on Iranian-made drones that have been used in attacks in Ukraine.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that a “relatively small number” of Iranian personnel are operating in the Ukrainian region that was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Russia’s defence and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Washington was going to pursue all means to “expose, deter and confront” Iran’s supply of munitions to Russia, including more sanctions, while also considering air defences for Ukraine.
European Union members have agreed on new measures against Iran, the bloc said, while Britain imposed sanctions on senior military figures and a firm it said were involved in the supply of Iranian drones to Moscow.
Russia and Iran have also been involved in the 11-year-long civil war in Syria, together supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Iran and Russia, they can lie to the world, but they certainly can’t hide the facts, and the fact is this: Tehran is now directly engaged on the ground,” Kirby said, without providing details.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter he had held detailed discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on a request for air and missile defence systems and technology. Lapid’s office said the Israeli leader expressed “deep concern” about the military connection between Iran and Russia.
Blackouts in Ukraine
People across Ukraine were urged to use less power as the government enforced electricity curbs between 7am and 11pm on Thursday.
The first such restrictions since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion included blackouts in some areas, and followed a barrage of Russian attacks that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said had struck a third of all power plants.
“In order to restore the reliability of our energy system, several weeks will be needed,” said Volodymyr Kudritskiy, chairman of the board of national energy company Ukrenergo.
That estimate was conditional on a end to mass shelling, he said.
The northeast region of Sumy went without water and some grocery shops in the capital Kyiv reported brisk sales of bottled water.
“There is much anger against Russian leaders and Russian people,” said Kyiv resident Mikhaylo Holovnenko “but we are ready for outages. We have candles, charged power banks. Ukraine is charged to win.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin inspected a training ground for mobilised troops in Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, and was shown firing a sniper rifle in footage apparently intended to show his backing for soldiers heading to fight in Ukraine.
Russia’s defence ministry said it was again targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, a strategy it has stepped up since the appointment this month of Sergei Surovikin – nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media – as commander of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
In video addresses on Thursday, Zelenskiy, without providing evidence, accused Russia of preparing to cause a large-scale disaster in southern Ukraine. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
