Europe's role in the making of Russia killer drones

 
Iranian kamikaze drones used in the latest attacks on Ukrainian cities are filled with European components, according to a secret document sent by Kyiv to its western allies in which it appeals for long-range missiles to attack production sites in Russia, Iran and Syria.

In a 47-page document submitted by Ukraine's government to the G7 governments in August, it is claimed there were more than 600 raids on cities using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) containing western technology in the previous three months, the Guardian reports.

According to the paper, obtained by the Guardian, 52 electrical components manufactured by western companies were found in the Shahed-131 drone and 57 in the Shahed-136 model, which has a flight range of 2,000km (1,240 miles) and cruising speed of 180kmh (111mph).

Five European companies including a Polish subsidiary of a British multinational are named as the original manufacturers of the identified components.
"Among the manufacturers are companies headquartered in the countries of the sanctions coalition: the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Poland," it claims.

According to the document, Iran has already diversified its production through the use of a Syrian factory delivering to the Russian port of Novorossiysk but the production of drones is shifting to Russia, to the central Tartar region of Alabuga, although Tehran continues to supply the components.

It says the Iranian government is trying to "disassociate itself from providing Russia with weapons" and "cannot cope with Russian demand and the intensity of use in Ukraine".

Among the suggestions for action by Ukraine's western allies - at which they would probably baulk - are "missile strikes on the production plants of these UAVs in Iran, Syria, as well as on a potential production site in the Russian federation".

The document goes on: "The above may be carried out by the Ukrainian defence forces if partners provide the necessary means of destruction."
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the western companies whose parts have been identified. "Iranian UAV production has adapted and mostly uses available commercial components, the supply of which is poorly or not controlled at all," the paper says.

Customs information is said by the Ukrainian report to show that "almost all the imports to Iran originated from Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Costa Rica".

Bart Groothuis, an MEP who sits on the European parliament's defence and security subcommittee, said there had been insufficient coordination among the EU's intelligence services to grapple with the misuse of western components. "I think many European intelligence agencies aren't even looking at sanctions," he said.

The Ukrainian government document - "Barrage deaths: report on Shahed-136/131 UAVs" - provides the most up to date analysis of Russia's changing drone tactics and production plans since the first use of Shahed drones was recorded in the Kharkiv region on 13 September 2022, in the city of Kupiansk.