KYIV, Ukraine – As conflict in the Middle East escalates, Ukraine could become a valuable repository of war-tested technology from its painful and costly war against Russia.
After months of pressure and tough rhetoric from Washington aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, Kyiv is now appealing for help as Iran’s Gulf neighbors grapple with the modern reality of drone warfare.
Hotels, airports and residential buildings have been hit in cities across the Gulf, wreaking havoc as Iran targets US military bases hosted by its neighbours. It’s an all-too-familiar image in Ukraine, whose skies are filled with hundreds of Russian drones each night, many of them the Iranian-designed Shahed type.
Kyiv’s forces repel most of them every night, not with expensive anti-aircraft missiles – as many countries in the Middle East have done – but with cheaper and more effective interceptor drones, technology that has been shaped and perfected for four years of intensive drone warfare.
The intense war has made Ukraine a unique “ecosystem” that allows for real-time testing of new drone technology on the battlefield, said Marko Kushnir, a spokesman for General Cherry, one of Ukraine’s leading manufacturers.
“The feedback loop between the former and the manufacturer is very short,” says Kushnir. “We can get an answer in the morning, and in the evening we have a solution to deal with new tasks on the battlefield.”
Created in 2023 by a group of veterans and volunteers, the Kyiv-based company produces about 100,000 drones a month, Kushnir said. One of its fighter jet interceptors directly intercepts the Shahds and is actively used by the Ukrainian military, he added. The company was invited to participate in the Pentagon’s $1 billion Drone Dominance program before the Iran war began.
It’s a level of technology that Ukraine has paid dearly for, Kushnir said — “in lives, territory and a long war with a bigger, better-equipped enemy.”
There are two countries in the world that understand from experience how to fight the daily, grinding technological war with drones, he said. “It’s us and Russia,” added Kushnir.
Ukraine’s allies realize that now, he said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that he had received nearly a dozen requests from the US and countries in the Middle East and Europe about “Ukraine’s experience in protecting lives, relevant communications, electronic warfare programs and training.”
Ukraine’s experience in combating attack drones is “impossible,” he said in a series of posts on X, and “the most advanced in the world.” Kyiv has sent teams to the Middle East, Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, raising the prospect of an arms deal, with Ukraine desperate for air defense missiles to counter the sophisticated weapons Russia uses against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure almost daily.
“This is not participation in the operation. We are not fighting Iran,” Zelenskyy told Reuters in comments released on Sunday. “This is about protection and a thorough, comprehensive assessment on our part of how to fight the Shahds.”
He said what Ukraine will receive in return for aid still needs to be discussed, adding: “To be honest, for us today, both technology and financing are important.”
