US: Iranian troops in Crimea backing Russian drone strikes

The White House stated on Thursday that Iranian troops are “directly engaged on the ground” in Crimea in support of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine’s power stations and other key infrastructure, claiming it has troubling evidence of Tehran’s expanding role in aiding Russia as it inflicts suffering on Ukrainian civilians as winter approaches.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters that Iran had dispatched a “very modest number” of individuals to Crimea, a region of Ukraine that Russia illegally invaded in 2014, to help Russian troops in launching Iranian-made drones against Ukraine. According to the British government, members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were despatched to help Russian soldiers in the use of drones.

The disclosure of the U.S. intelligence conclusion coincides with the Biden administration’s efforts to increase international pressure on Tehran to stop assisting Russia in its bombardment of Ukrainian civilian targets using Iranian-made drones.

In recent days, the Russians have increasingly relied on Iranian-supplied drones and Kalibr and Iskander cruise missiles to launch assaults against Ukrainian infrastructure and non-military targets. Since October 10, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russian forces have damaged 30 percent of Ukraine’s power plants.