Ukraine war: US says Iran now Russia's 'top military backer'

Russia is giving an unprecedented level of military support, said US national security council spokesman John Kirby.

The US has seen reports that the two countries are considering joint production of lethal drones, he added.

Australia has announced it is sanctioning three Iranians and one Iranian business for supplying Russia with drones to use against Ukraine.

Co-operation between the two nations has come under recent scrutiny - with Ukraine accusing Iran of supplying Russia with "kamikaze" drones used in a series of deadly attacks on 17 October.

After denying this, the Middle Eastern country later admitted sending a "limited number" of drones to Russia, "many months" before the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said this was a lie and that Ukraine was shooting down about 10 Iranian drones a day.

The Ukrainian air force said it had downed 10 of 15 such drones used to attack southern regions in the early hours of Saturday. The governor of Odesa said the strikes caused power cuts in most of his region.

Speaking on Friday, Mr Kirby said that a partnership between Iran and Russia to produce drones would be harmful to Ukraine, Iran's neighbours and the international community.

"Russia is seeking to collaborate with Iran in areas like weapons development, training," he said, adding that the US fears that Russia intended to "provide Iran with advanced military components" including helicopters and air defence systems.

"Iran has become Russia's top military backer..." he said. "Russia's been using Iranian drones to strike energy infrastructure, depriving millions of Ukrainians of power, heat, critical services. People in Ukraine today are actually dying as a result of Iran's actions."

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