kyiv, Ukraine – As conflict in the Middle East intensifies, Ukraine could prove to be an invaluable treasure trove of battle-tested experience from its own bitter and costly fight against Russia.
After months of pressure and hardened rhetoric from Washington aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, kyiv is now also fielding calls for help as Iran’s neighbors in the Gulf grapple with the modern reality of drone warfare.
Hotels, airports and residential buildings have been attacked in cities across the Gulf, wreaking havoc as Iran attacks US military bases hosted by its neighbors. It’s an all-too-familiar sight in Ukraine, whose skies are invaded by hundreds of Russian drones every night, many of them of the Shahed type designed in Iran.
kyiv’s forces divert most of them every night, not with expensive air defense missiles (as many Middle Eastern countries have done), but with much cheaper and more effective interceptor drones, a technology perfected after four years of intense drone warfare.
The raging war has turned Ukraine into a unique “ecosystem” that allows innovative drone technology to be tested in real time on the battlefield, said Marko Kushnir, a spokesman for General Cherry, one of Ukraine’s leading drone manufacturers.
“The feedback loop between the front and the manufacturer is very short,” Kushnir said. “We can get feedback in the morning and at night have a solution that will address new tasks on the battlefield.”
Created in 2023 by a group of veterans and volunteers, the kyiv-based company produces about 100,000 drones a month, Kushnir said. One of its flagship interceptor drones specifically stops Shaheds and is actively used by the Ukrainian armed forces, he added. The company was invited to participate in the Pentagon’s $1 billion Drone Dominance initiative before the war with Iran broke out.
It is a level of experience for which Ukraine has paid dearly, Kushnir said: “with lives, territory and a very long war with a bigger and better-resourced enemy.”
There are two countries in the world that understand from experience how to wage a daily, grueling technological war with drones, he said. “It’s us and Russia,” Kushnir added.
Ukraine’s allies now recognize that, he said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that he received nearly a dozen requests from the United States and countries in the Middle East and Europe about “Ukraine’s experience in protecting lives, relevant interceptors, electronic warfare systems and training.”
Ukraine’s experience in combating attack drones is “irreplaceable,” he said in a series of posts on X, and “the most advanced in the world.” kyiv has sent equipment to the Middle East, Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, raising the possibility of an arms exchange, as Ukraine is desperate for air defense missiles to counter the sophisticated weapons Russia is using against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure almost daily.
“This is not about engaging in operations. We are not at war with Iran,” Zelenskyy told Reuters in comments published on Sunday. “This is about protection and a thorough and complete assessment on our part of how to counter the Shahed,” he said.
He said it was still necessary to discuss what Ukraine will receive in return for the assistance, adding: “Honestly, for us today, both technology and financing are important.”
