President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday, Oct. 20, that Russia has supplied drones to Iran and likely shared satellite intelligence with Tehran, highlighting Moscow’s direct support for Iran amid its intensifying confrontation with the US and its Middle Eastern allies.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Oslo alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Zelensky said Ukraine had identified evidence of Russian drone deliveries to Iran and suspected that Moscow had also provided intelligence assistance.
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“I think that Putin helps Iranians and helped, because we saw different details from the drones which Russia delivered to Iran,” Zelensky said.
“I think also they shared with them intelligence, I mean from satellites and other information. This is what we know.”
The Ukrainian leader was responding to a question from Norwegian broadcaster NRK about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was using Iran as geopolitical leverage over US President Donald Trump.
The journalist raised concerns that Trump was reluctant to increase pressure on Putin for fear that Moscow could retaliate by expanding its military support for Tehran.
Zelensky declined to speculate on Putin’s intentions but made clear where he believed Moscow stood.
“I don’t know too much, yes, but I know that Russia stays on the side of Iranians,” he said.
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Following talks with US authorities in Oslo, Norway, Zelensky said Ukraine could see results on Patriot interceptors and Starlink restrictions within 48 hours.
His remarks came as Washington faces mounting questions over its approach to Moscow, particularly after Trump eased restrictions on Russian energy exports while seeking a diplomatic agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
The comments also echoed Zelensky’s warning in March, when he wrote on X that Ukrainian intelligence had obtained evidence of Russian intelligence assistance to Iran.
Zelensky said Russia was using its own intelligence capabilities, including signals and electronic intelligence, to support Tehran, warning that such cooperation was contributing to instability in the Middle East.
Ukraine subsequently disclosed further evidence of Russian surveillance activities targeting US military installations and Gulf states.
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Russia and Iran have developed an increasingly close military partnership since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Iran initially supplied Russia with Shahed attack drones, which Moscow subsequently began manufacturing domestically and deploying extensively against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.
However, recent developments indicate that military assistance has increasingly flowed in both directions.
In March, Zelensky told CNN that Russia was supplying Iranian forces with drones amid attacks involving US and Israeli targets.
Kyiv has also repeatedly reported that Moscow provided Tehran with intelligence potentially useful for targeting American military facilities.
As Kyiv Post reported in September, Ukrainian intelligence identified a Russian-Iranian reconnaissance network involving satellite surveillance of US and Gulf military installations.
According to those findings, Russian satellites monitored military facilities before and after Iranian attacks, raising concerns that Moscow was helping Tehran identify potential targets and assess the results of its strikes.
Zelensky revealed that between July 19 and 20 alone, Russian satellites had monitored four military air bases in the Middle East – two in Bahrain, one in Jordan and one in Kuwait.
Kyiv’s findings suggested that Russian reconnaissance could support both operational planning and post-strike damage assessments.
The September report also detailed an alleged Russian proposal to halt intelligence-sharing with Iran in exchange for Washington terminating its intelligence support for Ukraine.
The proposal, reportedly floated by Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, was rejected by Washington, according to the reporting cited by Kyiv Post.
On Oct. 13, Trump said he did not believe Russia or China was significantly helping Iran, despite US intelligence reports indicating that Moscow had provided Tehran with military intelligence and other assistance.
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