A Russian Defense Ministry official in Moscow made a serious mistake when invited to the set of a news show, asking the hosts not to ask him about Iranian drones being used by Russia, not realizing it was already on air.

“How will the global market fundamentally change? Let’s ask an expert,” says the host of the show, introducing Ruslan Mykolayovych Pukhov, director of the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

As he takes his place on set, the Russian official tells the two hosts that they won’t “muddy the waters too much,” so he asks them not to ask him questions about the Iranian-made Shahed 136 drones used by the Russian military. in attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday.

“We all know they’re Iranian, but the authorities didn’t admit it,” he quickly tells the two news anchors, not giving them a break to tell him again that they’re already live. However, the presenter continues as if nothing happened with the prepared question.

He confirmed the authenticity of the recording and translation on his page Twitter Tadeusz Gitsan, a Belarusian journalist and researcher at the Center for European Policy Analysis, who earlier this week explained the real reason why Russia sent troops into Belarus.

Gitzan describes this moment as “the failure of the day”.

Both Russia and Iran deny that they entered into an agreement to supply the drones

Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, has warned since July 11 that the United States has information that Russia has requested hundreds of drones from Iran for the war in Ukraine.

Tehran’s government immediately denied this, saying on July 12 that the White House’s statements were American disinformation and accusing the United States of actually, along with Europe, “turning the occupying and aggressor countries, including those in West Asia , in stock of his deadly weapons.”

Moscow, in turn, denied the information.

A few days later, Jake Sullivan returned with new information, releasing satellite images that he claimed showed Russian officials visiting an airfield in Iran to see drones with strike capabilities.

However, in September, photos and videos of Iranian kamikaze drones being used by the Russian armed forces began to circulate on social media and Ukrainian official channels. This is probably the loudest attack using them on the city of Odesa before what was carried out on Monday. port on September 23.

In August, the US State Department said that the Russian military had received training on how to use these drones in Iran itself.

The day before, The New York Times reported in a major story, for which they consulted with several former and current Washington officials, that after initial training in Iran, Tehran would send specialized personnel to the Crimean peninsula to help Russian forces overcome the problems. with a fleet of kamikaze drones.

According to American journalists, the training is conducted by members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, a unit of the Iranian army, recognized by the United States as a terrorist organization.

The information comes in the context of the fact that at the end of September, a representative of the Pentagon told CNN that the Iranian drones used by Russia had “numerous failures” on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The US and the EU are preparing new sanctions against Iran due to its support for Russia

This Monday, shortly after Russian attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, Iran again denied that it supplies drones or other weapons or military equipment to Russia.

“The published news about Iran’s supply of drones to Russia has political implications and is being spread by Western sources. We have not supplied weapons to any of the belligerent countries,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference.

The next day, Kannani made similar statements, adding that Iran had always opposed the continuation of the war in Ukraine.

His denials also came in the context of a report by The Washington Post on Sunday, based on information obtained from several US officials, that Tehran had agreed to send missiles to Russia, not just attack drones.

Also on Tuesday, the press secretary of President Vladimir Putin, Dmytro Peskov, said that the Kremlin does not know whether the Russian military is using Iranian drones in Ukraine, or whether Moscow has even bought such equipment from Iran.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that the EU would look for “concrete evidence” of Iran’s involvement in the war in Ukraine, as other European diplomats and officials stepped up calls for new sanctions against Tehran.

The United States on Thursday imposed new sanctions against the network through which Russia buys Iranian drones.

“We know these efforts have a direct impact on the battlefield, as Russia’s desperation has forced it to turn to substandard suppliers and outdated equipment,” U.S. Assistant Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a press statement.

In Ukraine, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that he will propose to President Volodymyr Zelensky to break diplomatic relations with Iran because of Russia’s military support.

Follow the latest events of the 239th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.