White House says Iran is helping Russia build a drone factory east of Moscow for the war in Ukraine

WASHINGTON — Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looks to lock in a steady supply of weaponry for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to a U.S. intelligence finding released by the White House on Friday.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said U.S. intelligence officials believe a plant in Russia’s Alabuga special economic zone could be operational early next year. The White House also released satellite imagery taken in April of the industrial location, several hundred miles east of Moscow, where it believes the plant “will probably be built.”

Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced it will provide an additional $2.1 billion in long-term weapons aid for Ukraine. The new assistance package will include funding for more Patriot missile battery munitions, Hawk air defense systems and missiles, and small Puma drones that can be launched by hand.

Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies via AP

An industrial site several hundred miles east of Moscow where U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia, with Iran’s help, is building a factory to produce attack drones for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted Friday that Ukrainian troops started a long-expected counteroffensive and were suffering “significant” losses. His comments came hours after a string of drone strikes inside Russian territory. One hit a residential building.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, also said a “variety of indicators” suggested Ukraine’s counteroffensive had begun. It said the new phase of the war “may also see the highest Ukrainian losses.”

Kyiv has played down talk of a counteroffensive, reasoning that the less said about its military moves the better.

The regional governor of Voronezh, Alexander Gusev, said on the Telegram app that a drone crashed into a high-rise apartment building in the city of the same name, injuring three residents who were hit by shards of glass. Russian state media published photos of windows blown out and damage to the facade. Gusev said the drone was targeting a nearby airbase but veered off course after its signal was jammed.

Separately, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov of the neighboring Belgorod region, which also borders Ukraine, said air defenses had shot down two unspecified targets overnight. An apartment building and private homes were damaged, he said, without saying by what. He also said a drone fell on the roof of an office building in the city of Belgorod. It failed to detonate but caught fire on impact, causing “insignificant damage,” he wrote.

Ukrainian authorities generally have denied any role in attacks inside Russia. Such drone strikes — there was even one near the Kremlin — along with cross-border raids into southwestern Russia have brought the war home to Russians.

Ara Kilanyants, Kommersant Publishing House via AP

Broken windows and traces of a fire are seen Friday after a drone hit a residential building in Voronezh, Russia.

In Ukraine, the governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said Friday that water levels decreased by about 8 inches overnight on the western bank of the Dnieper, which was inundated starting Tuesday after the breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam upstream. Officials on both sides indicated about 20 people have died in the flooding.

President Joe Biden’s administration publicly stated in December that it believed Tehran and Moscow were considering setting up a drone assembly line in Russia for the Ukraine war. The new intelligence suggests the project, in the Yelabuga region of Tatarstan, moved beyond conception.

Kirby said that U.S. officials also determined that Iran continues to supply the Russian military with one-way attack drones made in Iran: The drones are shipped via the Caspian Sea, from Amirabad in Iran to Makhachkala, Russia, and then are used by Russian forces against Ukraine.

As of May, Russia received hundreds of one-way attack drones, as well as drone production-related equipment, from Iran, according to the White House.

Iran said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war but not since.

“This is a full-scale defense partnership that is harmful to Ukraine, to Iran’s neighbors, and to the international community,” Kirby said. “We are continuing to use all the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt these activities including by sharing this with the public — and we are prepared to do more.”

Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller at a martial arts academy Friday at Sirius Park in the resort city of Sochi, Russia.

The Biden administration on Friday issued an advisory meant to help businesses and other governments put in place measures to ensure they are not inadvertently contributing to Iran’s drone program.

The notice from the departments of Commerce, State, Justice and Treasury said it was “critical that private industry be aware of its legal obligations” to abide by U.S. export controls and sanctions.

The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom in recent months all have issued rules designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.

The Biden administration repeatedly publicized intelligence findings that detail how Iran is assisting the Russian invasion. The White House noted Iran also has weapons flowing its way from Russia.

Iran is seeking to purchase additional military equipment from Russia, including attack helicopters, radars and YAK-130 combat trainer aircraft, according to the White House. In April, Iran announced that it had finalized a deal to buy Su-35 fighter jets from Russia.