Ukraine has agreed to deploy counter-drone specialists and equipment to multiple US allies in the Middle East after their leaders reached out to Kyiv for help defending against Iranian drone attacks.
According to "Hvylya", citing a report by The Atlantic, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a flurry of calls with the leaders of Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. All four countries have faced barrages of Iranian drones since the US-led offensive began. "Our military possesses the necessary capabilities," Zelensky said in a post on X. "Ukrainian experts will operate on-site, and teams are already coordinating these efforts."
The deployment marks a dramatic reversal in military innovation - an area where the United States has been the recognized global leader for decades. Ukraine has spent over three years developing ways to counter the Shahed-136 drone, which Iran sold to Russia in the fall of 2022. Since then, Russia has produced and launched tens of thousands of Shaheds against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
"Iranian attack drones are the same 'shaheds' that have been striking our cities, villages, and our Ukrainian infrastructure throughout this war," Zelensky said. Ukraine's engineers have built a range of countermeasures - including lasers and AI-enabled interceptor drones costing as little as $1,000 - achieving an overall interception rate of about 90 percent against Shaheds, according to Ukrainian government estimates.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, an adviser to Zelensky on arms production, told The Atlantic: "It's our innovation. And I think it would be very useful for our partners right now in the Middle East."
The development seemed to surprise Zelensky himself. "We're at war," he told reporters in Kyiv. "But they're reaching out to us."