Russia shot down an Iranian drone operated by Moscow’s own troops in the annexed Crimean peninsula, according to new reports.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Crimea, said that an “enemy” unmanned aerial vehicle had been jammed in the eastern part of the annexed territory. Aksyonov shared an image of the downed drone. Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels posted footage of an airborne drone catching fire.
However, other reports suggested the drone was an Iranian-made Mohajer-6 surveillance drone, which is also capable of carrying weapons, operated by Russia.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s internal ministry, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that it appeared Russian forces “took down their own Iranian Mohajer-6 drone. Good job!”
Rob Lee, a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute think tank, said on social media that what looked to be a Mohajer-6 operated by Russia could have been downed by Russian air defenses. Reports indicate it was a “friendly-fire incident,” the Ukraine-focused weapons monitoring account Ukraine Weapons Tracker added on Twitter.
It is worth noting that earlier Iranian ambassador to Ukraine denied supplying unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia. Tehran had previously said Iran would not assist either side in the war as it backed its resolution through dialogue.
Sources: Defence Blog; Newsweek