Russians now producing Iran’s Shahed drones on their own, to be main feature of winter strikes on UA

The Russians have succeeded in producing Shahed drones under Iranian license, former Aidar battalion company commander Yevhen Dykyi told Radio NV in an exclusive interview, adding that they are likely to become a key element of winter strikes on Ukraine.

"They have really managed to produce Shahed (drones) under license. The factory in (Tatarstan’s special economic zone) Alabuga has really started to work. I was personally present at the examination of the recently downed drones, which I will now call 'Herans.' In previous cases it was just an Iranian Shahed with the word 'Heran' painted on it, now there are some parts, some components inside that are made in Russia."

The Russians are carrying out a full-scale licensed production of drones under an Iranian license.

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"It seems to me that missiles will not be a key element of their (Russian) strikes this winter, because they really have a shortage of missiles. But the key element will be Shahed, which are less effective than missiles, but which they have really started to produce in the hundreds per month. It is very far from the 600 a month that they were claiming, but they are definitely producing 100+ a month."

The Ukrainian Air Force shot down 228 Shahed kamikaze drones out of 243 launched by Russia in October, Ukrainian President's Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak reported in early November.

Russia plans to produce 6,000 kamikaze drones on its territory by mid-2025 with the help of Iran, the Washington Post reported in August, citing secret documents obtained by its journalists.

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