Ukraine summons Iran diplomat, protests possible Tehran missile shipments to Russia
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Monday it had summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires Shahriar Amouzegar to protest the possibility that Tehran is supplying Russia with ballistic missiles.
The ministry said on Telegram that it gave Amouzegar a harsh warning that confirmation of missile deliveries to Russia would have “devastating and irreparable consequences” for bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iran.
The White House told VOA last week it is “alarmed” by unconfirmed Western news reports that an unprecedented Iranian transfer of missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine recently happened or will occur imminently.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that unnamed U.S. and European officials determined in recent days that Iran has delivered ballistic missiles to Russia in what would be a first for the growing military partnership of the two anti-Western allies.
The Kremlin has dismissed the reports and Iranian officials Monday denied supplying Russia with missiles.
Continued Russian aerial attacks
On the battlefront, Ukraine said Russian forces attacked it with eight aerial drones and three guided missiles, including the latest round of assaults directed at the Ukrainian
capital, Kyiv.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down two of the three missiles and six of the eight drones, with intercepts taking place over the Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv and Sumy regions.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.
Russia’s defense ministry said Monday its air defenses shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region and another over the Kursk region, both areas along the border between the two countries that are common targets for Ukraine.
Some material in this report came from Reuters.
Source: voanews.com