Ukrainian Army: We Shot Down 19 Iranian-Made Shahed Drones

The Ukrainian army reported on Monday extensive airstrikes by Russia on various regions of Ukraine using drones manufactured by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Ukrainian military claims that its air defense shot down 19 Iranian-made Shahed drones and 11 cruise missiles early Monday morning. Ukrainian officials on Monday, October 3, also stated that Russia's airstrike on Sunday night in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine severely damaged the port infrastructure of the area, including grain storage silos. According to the governor of the region, this warehouse housed about 1,000 tons of grain. No casualties have been reported from this attack, but according to the governor of the Kherson region, at least one person was killed in a separate Russian airstrike on the city of Beryslav in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Ukrainian night attacks, stating that Ukrainian drones were shot down over the northwestern part of the Black Sea as well as over Crimea and in the Kursk and Belgorod regions of Russia. The attack on Odesa is the latest in a series of missile and drone attacks by Russia, which Ukraine claims are aimed at preventing the export of Ukrainian grain. The United States has so far imposed multiple sanctions against the Islamic Republic for manufacturing and sending combat drones to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine. The Biden administration on Tuesday, September 19, imposed new sanctions related to the Islamic Republic targeting individuals and entities in Iran, Russia, China, and Turkey connected to Iranian-made drones and military aircraft. The U.S. Treasury Department stated that the sanctions targeted seven individuals and four entities in these four countries that, according to the department, facilitated transportation and financial transactions to the Iranian Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Company (HESA) concerning the production of drones and military aircraft. Brian Nelson, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated, 'The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the continuous and deliberate production of drones, enables Russia, its proxy forces in the Middle East, and other actors that contribute to instability to undermine global stability.' A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department on Friday, September 22, also responded to the Islamic Republic's display of weaponry and missiles, telling a Voice of America reporter, 'We continue to work closely with our European allies and partners to use all the tools at our disposal to prevent these activities.'