On Monday (March 9), tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate as Gulf countries were subjected to ongoing drone and missile attacks from Iran. Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that Ukraine had received 11 requests for assistance from Gulf countries, as well as the United States and Europe, in response to Iran’s drone attacks.
During the four-year Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine gained substantial experience in combating Russian drones. Many of Russia’s drones are either from Iran or based on Iranian drone designs.
Zelensky, after attending a national security meeting on Monday, posted on the social media platform X, saying, “Countries have shown strong interest in Ukraine’s accumulated experience in protecting lives, relevant interceptors, electronic warfare systems, and training.”
“Ukraine is prepared to actively respond to requests from countries that assist us in protecting the lives of the Ukrainian people and Ukraine’s independence,” he said, adding that “some requests have already received specific responses and support.”
Each interceptor drone, costing up to thousands of dollars, is seen as an effective tool against attacks by Russian-made drones like the “Shaheds.” Ukraine’s defense enterprises are ramping up production with an eye on export opportunities.
The United States and its allies typically rely on expensive missiles to shoot down Iran’s “Shaheds” drones.
Through the Telegram application, Zelensky also stated, “We have carefully reviewed the security support requests from various countries to address the ‘Shaheds’ drones and other similar challenges.”
A source informed Reuters last week that the United States and Qatar are in negotiations to purchase Ukrainian interceptor drones.
Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine will “actively respond to those additional requests without compromising its own defense capabilities.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, a source revealed that last week, a group of senior Qatari officials visited a Ukrainian training ground to learn how the country uses interceptor drones to take down Russian drones. These interceptor drones may collide with or detonate near enemy drones. An official from the air defense forces involved in the training stated that the unit had held discussions with officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European countries.
Zelensky announced on Sunday (March 8) that Ukrainian experts would be arriving in the Middle East as early as next week to provide assistance.
Ukraine’s technology has begun to spread. Britain announced on Thursday that it had deployed anti-drone experts to the Middle East who had closely collaborated with Ukraine before.