Zelensky: “The fact that Russia is asking for help from Iran is the Kremlin’s recognition of its military and political bankruptcy”

And according to President Zelenski, most of these attacks were carried out by Iranian drones. A symbol of the “military and political bankruptcy of the Russian troops” – says the leader from Kyiv.

“The very fact that Russia is asking Iran for help is the Kremlin’s recognition of its military and political bankruptcy,” President Zelenski joked in his daily speech on social media, according to Agerpres.

“For decades they have spent billions of dollars on their military-industrial complex and ended up bowing to Tehran to get quite basic drones and missiles,” he criticized. In his opinion, “this will not help them from a strategic point of view anyway”, assured the head of the Ukrainian state.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran said it was ready to hold talks with Kiev to clarify what it considers “baseless” claims that Tehran is supplying Moscow with weapons and drones used by Russian forces in its invasion of Ukraine.

The spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanani, said that “Iran is ready for negotiations and discussions with Ukraine to resolve these accusations”, according to a statement.

Kiev and its Western allies have accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones in large-scale attacks in Ukraine in recent weeks.

Media articles have reported in recent days about possible deliveries of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles to Russia soon, but neither Tehran nor Moscow have confirmed.

In this context, Ukraine asked the European Union on Monday to impose new sanctions on Iran, and Ukrainian diplomacy proposed Tuesday to President Zelensky to break diplomatic relations with Tehran.

The NATO Secretary General announced that the Alliance will deliver air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming days to help the country shoot down these devices.

On the front, Ukrainian troops continue their counter-offensive in the south, and the Kremlin admits that the situation is extremely tense in Kherson.

Several explosions rocked the capital Kyiv again yesterday. An electrical plant on the banks of the Dnipro River was hit.

Other power distribution centers were seriously damaged in Dnipro… And, likewise, there were power cuts and the water supply stopped following attacks in Jîtomir, where several employees of an energy supply station were seriously injured.

Serhi Suhomlin, Mayor of Jîtomir: “The enemy has shelled the energy infrastructure in Zhytomir Oblast with heavy fire. Now, 11 settlements in the region are temporarily without electricity.”

The attacks also continued in southern Ukraine. A rocket hit a building in Nikolaev where several families lived. Rescue teams spent all day yesterday trying to find survivors among the rubble. They found a poor puppy alive, who took refuge in the basement, but his owner could no longer be saved.

Footage posted by Ukrainska Pravda captures the moment an elderly woman stepped out onto the balcony of her Kyiv apartment and played the Ukrainian national anthem on an accordion, minutes after a drone struck nearby.

Yesterday’s attacks came 24 hours after Kiev was hit by kamikaze drones – believed to be Iranian-made. The Russians have launched dozens of such explosive, remote-controlled drones, causing serious damage to energy infrastructure in nearly 600 localities.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary: “There is evidence of their (drones) extensive use against military and civilian targets in Ukraine. Also, you all saw the reports of what appeared to be an Iranian drone strike in downtown Kyiv. But Iran continues to lie about it.”

Zelensky: “We have to think that the fact that Russia appealed to Iran for such assistance is the Kremlin’s admission of its military and political bankruptcy. For decades they spent billions of dollars on their military-industrial complex and finally bowed to Tehran to get fairly basic drones and missiles.”

The United States has announced that it agrees with allies Britain and France that Iran’s supply of drones violates a UN Security Council resolution related to the nuclear security agreement with Tehran. It is about the agreement which, among other things, prohibits the transfer of certain technologies. “We will not hesitate to impose sanctions,” the State Department warned. And the European Union has announced that it is… gathering information and ready to act.

Vedant Patel, spokesman for the US State Department: “The fact that Russia is becoming increasingly dependent on a country like Iran, a country known for its destabilizing actions in the region and around the world should be a sign of concern for everyone. We will continue to take practical and aggressive steps to make sales of these weapons more difficult, including sanctions, export control actions against any entities involved.”

And Ukraine wants to break diplomatic relations with Iran.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian Foreign Minister:
“We have officially named Iran complicit in the crimes of Russian aggression, war crimes and Russian terrorism.”

Yesterday saw one of the largest prisoner exchanges since the start of the war, with each side releasing 218 prisoners. Including 108 Ukrainian women, who arrived in Zaporozhye last night.

Prisoner: “They took us out of the cell every morning, every night – they took us out to count and beat us. Every morning and every night they beat us.”

Prisoner: “For them, we are all nationalists, Nazis, we are to blame for everything, there is no Ukraine, there is no Ukrainian state at all.”

Zelensky: “96 are military, 37 were evacuated from Azovstal. 12 civilians. Among those released today are some captured long before full-scale warfare began. We do not forget or abandon any of our people.”

Zelenskiy encouraged the Ukrainian military to take even more Russian prisoners, so that they could resort to other prisoner exchanges in the future. And officials in Kyiv accuse the International Committee of the Red Cross of not doing enough to help Ukrainian refugees.