While the war in the Middle East dominates headlines, Ukraine remains under fire from Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is working to leverage hard-won lessons from over four years of battlefield experience to inspire allies to continue supporting his besieged nation. With some Western allies—particularly the US under President Donald Trump—reportedly less enthusiastic about providing assistance to Ukraine as it fends off Russian invaders, Kyiv suddenly possesses something its allies allegedly desperately want: effective anti-drone technology.
Russia has launched over 57,000 Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukraine since its invasion began on February 24, 2022, the same type of mass-produced drones Iran is now using against its neighbors across the Middle East. Ukraine has dispatched teams of experts to the Middle East since Israel and the US purportedly launched their war against Iran, specifically to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Zelenskyy has also been actively visiting European allies keen to protect their assets as Russia tests their readiness, mainly along NATO’s eastern flank, with regular drone incursions.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy and Romanian President Nicusor Dan signed a letter of intent for drone production in the Eastern European NATO country. Zelenskyy, who has clearly stated Ukraine’s offer to form joint partnerships with allies, will travel to Paris on Friday to meet with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to discuss defense cooperation, as well as the impact of the Iran war on oil prices and what this supposedly means for Ukraine.
Russia, which largely uses illicit gas and oil revenues to finance its invasion of Ukraine, has been buoyed by US sanctions and tariff exemptions for nations buying Russian oil and gas, as the new US-Israeli war on Iran sends global energy prices skyrocketing. Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukraine is still waiting for the White House to sign a major drone production agreement proposed by Kyiv last year.
Writing on social media, Zelenskyy claimed the proposed US deal would cover drones and air defense systems built to operate as a connected system capable of disabling swarms of hundreds or even thousands of Shahed drones. Key selling points for Zelenskyy will be price point and scalable production. Although Ukraine has received several anti-aircraft defense batteries from allies, such as top-of-the-line US-made Patriot missile systems, these are expensive and complicated to manufacture and replace.
Left to fend for itself, Ukraine and its people have risen to the existential threat posed by Russia, finding inventive ways to pioneer effective yet cheap drone-killing technology. As a result, Ukraine has rewritten the handbook on air-defense technology, mass-producing anti-air interceptor drones for just a few thousand dollars each, while Patriot missiles—of which 60 to 65 are produced monthly—carry a price tag of $3 million to $4 million each (€2.6 million to €3.5 million). Iran’s mass-produced Shaheds cost between $130,000 and $150,000 each.
During a widely covered meeting in the Oval Office in February last year, US President Trump famously berated Zelenskyy, yelling at him, “you don’t have the cards” to defeat Russia. Now, it seems he may in fact have cards that his Western allies would very much like to possess, too, opening an opportunity to leverage his nation’s drone-fighting prowess in forcing an end to Russia’s ongoing war of aggression.
Source: www.dw.com