Ukraine’s air force says recently-arrived Western air defense systems will help counter new threats from Iranian ballistic missiles reportedly acquired by Russia, but the latter must be destroyed at the launch site, CNN reports.

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Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said that Ukraine can target Iranian missiles at their launch pads, which are likely to be on Russian territory.

“They must be destroyed somehow, probably from where they are launched. Because we have no effective countermeasures [rachetelor] ballistics, with the exception of their physical destruction at the launch stage.”

Ignat noted that Iranian missiles have a “range of 300 and 700 kilometers, which, in principle, will not be new for Ukraine, because Iskander [de fabricație rusă] they were used from the first day of the war.”

“I believe that both the senior leadership of the military leadership and our partners are working on this issue, looking for effective ways to counter these new threats,” Ignat said.

He said the Russians failed to make progress on the battlefield and resorted to attacking infrastructure that provides energy and water. “They want to attack power plants first of all in the autumn-winter period, because people’s lives depend on them in many ways. This aerial terrorism will continue by all available means.”

“It is clear that the missiles that will be obtained from Iran, if they are made, will be used on energy infrastructure, and [rușii] will continue strikes with cruise missiles.”

On November 1, CNN reported that Iran was preparing to send about 1,000 additional weapons to Russia, including short-range ballistic missiles and several attack drones, citing Western officials who closely monitor Iran’s weapons program.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed on November 3 that Iran is considering supplying Russia with ballistic missiles for its war in Ukraine, in addition to the drones Tehran has already supplied.

“We see that Iran is offering drones and considering the possibility of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Istanbul. “This is unacceptable. No country should support Moscow in this illegal war.”

Over the weekend, Abdollahian ended weeks of Iranian delay over the drones by admitting — sitting next to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin on the sidelines of an international conference — that it had provided a small number of drones before the war. According to him, if Ukraine proves that its drones are used in war, Iran will not remain indifferent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi accused Iran of lying about sending a limited number of drones to Russia.

“If Iran continues to lie about the obvious, it means that the world will make even more efforts to investigate the terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes and the fact that Russia pays Iran for such cooperation,” Reuters quoted the president of Ukraine as saying. .