“Russia has been offering Iran unprecedented defence cooperation, including on missiles, electronics, and air defence,” he said.
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“This is a full-scale defence partnership that is harmful to Ukraine, to Iran’s neighbours, and to the international community. We are continuing to use all the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt these activities including by sharing this with the public – and we are prepared to do more.”
Kirby said the transfers of drones constituted a violation of United Nations rules and the United States would seek to hold the two countries accountable.
Britain, France, Germany, the US and Ukraine say the supply of Iranian-made drones to Russia violates a 2015 UN Security Council resolution enshrining the Iran nuclear deal.
Under the 2015 UN resolution, a conventional arms embargo on Iran was in place until October 2020.
The warning on drones comes as the United Nations top aid official warned that the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is “hugely worse” than before the Kakhovka dam collapsed.
An industrial site several hundred miles east of Moscow where US intelligence officials believe Russia with Iran’s help, is building a factory to produce attack drones for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Credit: Maxar/AP
Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths said an “extraordinary” 700,000 people are in need of drinking water and warned that the ravages of flooding in one of the world’s most important breadbaskets will almost inevitably lead to lower grain exports, higher food prices around the world, and less to eat for millions in need.
“This is a viral problem,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“But the truth is this is only the beginning of seeing the consequences of this act.”
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The rupture of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam and emptying of its reservoir on the Dnieper River on Wednesday added to the misery in a region that has suffered for more than a year from artillery and missile attacks.
Ukraine holds the Dnieper’s western bank, while Russian troops control the low-lying eastern side, which is more vulnerable to flooding. The dam and reservoir, essential for fresh water and irrigation in southern Ukraine, lies in the Kherson region that Moscow illegally annexed in September and has occupied for the past year.
Moscow and Kyiv both reported heavy fighting in Ukraine, with bloggers describing the first sightings of German and US armour, signalling that Ukraine’s long-anticipated counterattack was under way.
With virtually no independent reporting from the front lines and Kyiv saying little, it was impossible to assess whether Ukraine was penetrating Russian defences in its bid to drive out occupying forces.
Firefighters work after a drone attack on buildings in Kyiv in October.Credit: AP
“We can state for sure that this offensive has begun,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Sochi. “Ukrainian troops did not achieve their goals in any sector.”
Ukraine’s President Voldymyr Zelensky said he had discussed tactics and “achievements” with military leaders but gave little away.
Reuters