Ukraine Deploys 230 Anti-Drone Experts To Gulf, Already Shooting Down Iranian Drones

Last Updated:March 21, 2026, 21:21 IST

Zelenskyy framed Ukraine's involvement in the Gulf not as a distant concern but as a direct extension of its own war.

Ukraine deployed roughly 230 anti-drone specialists to Gulf countries to help defend against Iranian drone attacks, with some of those operators already carrying out successful shoot-downs of Iranian drones launched against the region, according to BBC citing Ukrainian Air Force officials.

This comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the deployments in an address to UK parliamentarians in London earlier this week, saying 201 Ukrainian anti-drone experts are already in the region with a further 34 ready to deploy. Ukrainian teams are currently active in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and are on their way to Kuwait, he said, with agreements in place with several other countries.

“These are military experts, experts who know how to help, how to defend against Shahed drones," Zelenskyy said, referring to the Iranian-designed kamikaze drones that Russia has been using against Ukraine since 2022.

Zelenskyy framed Ukraine’s involvement in the Gulf not as a distant concern but as a direct extension of its own war. Iran supplied Russia with Shahed-136 drones and taught Russian forces how to deploy them, he said, adding that Ukrainian forces now have clear evidence that Iranian drones being used in the Gulf region contain Russian components.

“So what is happening around Iran today is not a faraway war for us, because of the cooperation between Russia and Iran," he said, adding, “The regimes in Russia and Iran are brothers in hatred, and that is why they are brothers in weapons."

Ukraine has spent three years developing battlefield-tested expertise in countering Shahed drones and Zelenskyy said that 90 percent of Russian losses on the front lines in Ukraine are now being caused by Ukrainian drones. The country has also moved into producing interceptor drones designed specifically to shoot down incoming drones, with a current production capacity of at least 2,000 interceptors per day- half needed for Ukraine’s own defence and the rest available for allies.

“If a Shahed needs to be stopped in the Emirates- we can do it. If it needs to be stopped in Europe or the United Kingdom- we can do it. It is a matter of technology, investment, and cooperation," Zelenskyy said.

News world Ukraine Deploys 230 Anti-Drone Experts To Gulf, Already Shooting Down Iranian Drones

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