Iran has supplied Russia with drone-launched glide bombs for use in Ukraine, according to open source research into Tehran’s deepening military support for Moscow.
A German military analyst spotted the latest Qaem-5 guided aerial bomb attached to the wreckage of a Mohajer-6 drone in the Russian region of Kursk.
Moscow’s forces have extensively used the Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to carry out surveillance, but this is the first time the Qaem-5 bomb has been seen during the war in Ukraine.
The drone was believed to have been preparing to carry out an attack on the Ukrainian frontier region of Sumy before it mysteriously crashed in a field on the Russian side of the border.
The glide bombs can clearly be seen attached to the wings of the UAV in a video released on Russian social media channels.
“Iranian arms support for Russia at a new level,” analyst Julian Ropcke said.
Iran has repeatedly denied backing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite supplying Shahed kamikaze drones, artillery and tank ammunition.
Last week, the US warned Tehran it would face an international response if it provided ballistic missiles to Moscow, after reports that the Islamic Republic had started shipping the weapons to Russia.
The two rogue capitals are believed to have struck a deal at the end of last year with deliveries due to start in early January. But John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesman, said Washington had not seen confirmation of any missile transfers.
The transfer of glide bombs tallies with the increase in Russian weapons being dropped deep behind its front without challenge from Ukraine’s air defences (glide bombs are difficult for surface-to-air missiles to intercept due to their tiny radar signatures and short flight times).
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said Russia launched 3,200 guided bombs against Ukraine in April alone.
Russian media celebrated the “triumph of the glide bomb” when the weapons were used to pulverise Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region city of Avdiivka before its capture in February.
Glide bombs are suspected of being used in the Russian strike on the hypermarket in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which killed at least 18 people on Saturday.
The regional prosecutor said investigators had found an unexploded aerial bomb around 80 metres from the market, which would have caused “many more victims” had it detonated.
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