Tehran, Aug 31: Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani rejected the claim of Iranian military presence in Ukraine to train Russian forces as baseless. The Spokesperson reiterated Iran's principled stance of opposing the war and emphasised the need to halt the conflict and resolve disputes between Russia and Ukraine peacefully, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced in a statement.
He further stated that such baseless claims were made with specific political motives and objectives, adding that these accusations contradict the Islamic Republic of Iran's principled approach to the conflict in Ukraine. Earlier on August 25 Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's Prosecutor General, announced on X that an Iranian brigadier general was notified of suspicion of abetting Russia in waging an aggressive war and committing war crimes.
"We are prosecuting not only the Russian military and officials but also the aggressor's accomplices from other countries", he added. The Prosecutor General informed that according to the investigation, in July-August 2022, representatives of the Russian Armed Forces agreed with representatives of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to purchase Shahed-136 and Mohajer-6 attack UAVs and components for them.
Iranian experts also trained the Russian military to use these UAVs in combat operations against Ukraine. Kostin added that between September and October 2022, a group of military instructors from the Islamic Republic launched at least 20 attack drones in Ukraine's Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions, leading to the destruction and damage of civilian infrastructure protected under international humanitarian law.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General emphasised that this IRGC brigadier general is charged under Ukraine's criminal laws with "aiding in an aggressive war as part of a premeditated plan against Ukraine, violating the laws and customs of war, and committing war crimes." According to the Security Service of Ukraine, in 2022, Mollasaraei led a team of Iranian drone instructors who travelled to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, as reported by Iranian media.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General emphasised that this IRGC Brigadier General is charged under Ukraine's criminal laws with "aiding in an aggressive war as part of a premeditated plan against Ukraine, violating the laws and customs of war, and committing war crimes."
