Kyiv to G7: Iranian drones that struck Ukraine have components made by companies headquartered in the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Poland

4 comments

1. Theyll use non russian or Iranian third parties to procure

   I suspect it is indian businessmen due to the ample trade Iran already does with India.

   These individuals need to be sought out and sanctioned.

   Knives are out for Iranian Ex

   https://reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/s/vETuRKzG9h

   Iran likely paid in advance of orders for Russia as they have to procure parts from across the world and use Russian money to do it.

   Bet Iran sourcing parts and making drones for a mid winter order right now.

   So indian businessmen may be easy to spot due to the delay in parts procurement before orders fulfilled.

   Iran must have reliable sources they used for years.

   Burden must be on each country involved to determine where their parts go or they get fined if the west doesn’t have an appetite to sanction india… sanction the companies involved and they’ll spot who to black list.

   Anyone could easily track the procurers down if they wished.

2. In a 47-page document submitted to G7 governments in August, Kyiv claims that more than 600 raids on cities in the previous three months involved UAVs with components originating from ally countries:^1

   >According to the report, 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.

   > 

   >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” – was drafted with the assistance of Ukraine’s central research institute of armaments and military equipment and its intelligence services.

   >It 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.

   ^1 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/27/revealed-europes-role-in-the-making-of-russia-killer-drones

3. Few ways to get those parts:

   1. They use front companies to import all of these and went under radar for very long time. When they got caught, another one or more will appeared to do the same.
   Just annoying never-ended mouse catching game.

   2. Simply buy secondhands from any sellers without any restrictions then sold to other parties which ended up in enemy hands.

   3. They buy counterfelts instead that looks alike and operate as the real one.

4. We’ve been over this before, not the entire world sanctioned russia.

   You can literally drive over 75% of the russian border with a truck filled with electronics.

   This day and age you cannot ban a whole country from having access to commercial grade electronics, unless they impose it on themselves (North Korea).

   These components are so common and used in stuff like toasters, gaming consoles, smart LED lamps etc…

   If you want to stop this, you have to tell Iran to stop building the drones, or make Iran stop.