Diplomat: Ukraine to shoot down Iranian drones as all Russian drones

Spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Yuriy Ignat has said that the Ukrainian air force has extensive combat experience in shooting down drones.

“The combat drones that Iran has transferred to Russia will be also destroyed as the rest UAVs which are used by Russia,” Ignat told one of the TV channels, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

“These are combat UAVs that carry a lot of weapons. The load on this drone is actually three times more than that of our Bayraktar (according to the manufacturer’s requests). However, I would not like to draw preliminary conclusions until we see it in action,” he noted.

“There is such a saying - you have to try. This is a common target that our anti-aircraft missile forces will shoot down in the same way as the Russian Orlan, Forpost UAVs are destroyed. The only thing is that this is a modern combat drone. We do not know its quality, because Iran has not produced it honestly. It was using the smuggled parts because the country is under sanctions,” he noted.

“We are told that Russia will have hundreds of them, but there are doubts that there is such a big number. Moreover, it is not easy to fly this drone. Crews (at least two people) should undergo flight practice, have an idea about combat coordination, and learn how to strike at ground targets,” he added.

“Let's hope that it has not been produced well, and our anti-aircraft gunners will shoot them down like all other Russian UAVs,” Ignat said.