Repost: TOI, “Russia said supplying Iran with intel…”
I wanted to do this quick repost because one of my more controversial takes since Oct 7, 2023, Putin’s birthday present, has been that Russia was a catalyst for Hamas attacking Israel. In short, the world was united against his invasion of Ukraine, so Putin took his opportunity to encourage the useful idiots to attack the world’s favorite scapegoat. Sure enough, the global left rapidly abandoned Ukraine out of sheer excitement to hate Jews, Israel and US, and regressive policies about not protecting democratic allies became extremely popular on both sides. Russian misinformation flooding social media certainly helped this shift, along with the dumbing down of the world causing the usual tankies and assorted lunatics to focus on their hate instead of basic human rights.
Many people also remember that Iran at least pretended to be unaware of Hamas’s attack at first, and clearly was not able to coordinate its other proxies effectively in the immediate aftermath. Anyone paying attention can see how much Russia gained from the chaos. The global focus shifted away from Ukraine, and the war Russia started has now dragged on longer than World War II. Compare that with Iran, which has lost proxies through uncoordinated, ineffective attacks, plunged deeper into economic trouble, further alienated regional neighbors it eventually had to confront, and most recently lost its president and several senior commanders.
I wrote more about my not-so-much-a-conspiracy theory here: https://kingchill.com/jude/never-forget-russia
There are also obvious reasons why Western media tends to downplay Russian involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts. Russia is a nuclear power, and openly framing events as a coordinated expansion of Russia’s war risks escalating tensions in ways that could lead to catastrophic outcomes. Confronting Russia without triggering a wider war requires careful strategy, and frankly a wake-up call from international institutions like the UN that global decisions cannot remain hostage to authoritarian rulers.
Every once in a while, though, the news hands me another small “I told you so.” It is already well known that Russia and China align themselves with Iran as part of a broader anti-Western bloc, each government with a long record of human rights abuses pointing fingers at US and Israel. China, at least publicly, has limited support of the Islamic State to “moral support.” Digital high fives. Russia is going much further to help their jihadi comrades. According to recent reporting, Moscow has been supplying Iran with intelligence while Ukrainian allies are helping Gulf states defend themselves with drone expertise. In other words, Russia quietly fuels the conflict, while Ukraine is helping contain it.
You can read the original report here or below: https://www.timesofisrael.com/ukraine-military-drone-experts-expected-in-gulf-as-russia-said-supplying-iran-with-intel/
A photograph taken on December 27, 2025, shows an Iranian-designed Shahed 136 (Geranium-2) drone used by the Russian Army flying over Kyiv during a Russian drone and missile attack, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP)
The Washington Post reported Friday that Russia has been assisting Iran in its war with the US and Israel by providing intelligence on the locations of American military assets in the Middle East. The report cited US officials familiar with the details.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian military personnel are expected to arrive in the Gulf soon to help countries there fend off Iranian drone attacks, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP Friday.
Since the US and Israel launched their opening attack on Iran on Saturday, Russia has given Iran the locations of several US military assets, the sources said, including warships and aircraft.
The Washington Post report noted that the extent to which Russia is able to provide accurate information to Iran is unclear, although one of the sources said it appeared to be “a pretty comprehensive effort” on Moscow’s part.
The White House downplayed the report. “It clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them,” House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
“We are achieving the military objectives of this operation and that is going to continue,” Leavitt said.
Iran has launched numerous attacks on US assets in the region in retaliation for the American-Israeli campaign.
CNN reported Friday that satellite imagery shows several US radar sites in the region have been hit in recent days, impeding air defense capabilities, including one servicing a THAAD defense battery in Jordan and several radar systems in the United Arab Emirates. The New York Times reported on seven US radar and communication sites hit across the region.
Iranian drones and missiles have been pummelling Israel and the Gulf since the outbreak of war on Saturday.
Six US service members were killed in a drone attack on a US base in Kuwait on Sunday and the CIA station in Riyadh has also been hit.
“The Russians are more than aware of the assistance that we’re giving the Ukrainians,” one source told The Post. “I think they were very happy to try to get some payback.”
This satellite image provided by Vantor shows firefighting crews working to contain a fire and damage after a drone attack at the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Satellite image ©2026 Vantor via AP)
At the same time, officials assessed that Russia’s focus remains firmly on Ukraine, and that it will not devote significant resources to Iran.
Russia and Iran have long enjoyed close ties, and in January 2025, the two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement to further improve cooperation, including military and defense partnerships.
Earlier this week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Russia was “not really a factor” in the fighting with Iran.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that the United States had appealed for help from Kyiv in downing Iranian drones, due to their expertise in defending against those threats over the years of the war with Russia.
The US military deploys a THAAD missile defense system in Israel, March 2019. (US Army Europe/File)
Russia has deployed thousands of the Iranian-designed Shahed drones against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure, including energy facilities.
“The arrival of Ukrainian military personnel in the Persian Gulf is expected in the near future,” the source told AFP, cautioning that talks were still underway to “determine how to make this happen” and that “right now everything is being decided.”
Kyiv has developed a range of cheap and effective drone interceptors — aerial craft designed to hit incoming attack drones mid-air.
Zelensky has said that in return for Ukrainian anti-drone help, Gulf countries could provide Kyiv with missiles for air defense systems that were supplied to Ukraine by Western countries.
He has also suggested that Gulf countries with open ties to the Kremlin could pressure Russia to halt its war in Ukraine in return for Ukrainian military support.
“We need missiles for Patriots, funding for weapons production for our defense, and diplomatic support to end the war here,” the source told AFP.
“Depending on our partners’ capabilities, we determine what it can be,” the source added, referring to what Ukraine could receive in return.
A top manager from the Ukrainian defense sector separately told AFP that there was “a lot of interest” in Ukrainian anti-drone warfare from “private and public channels” in Gulf countries.
A large fire and plume of smoke are visible after, according to the authorities, debris of an Iranian-intercepted drone hit the Fujairah oil facility, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
“It’s not only about the products or gadgets, it’s also about complex solutions that consist with gadgets, solutions, teams,” said the manager, who asked not to be named to speak on sensitive military issues.
That source said that requests had come from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the United States.
“It gives us a lot of geopolitical power. It gives us a chair near these big geopolitical powers, so it’s very important for us and for our country,” the defense sector source said.
The source added that solutions could be provided from “a couple days to a couple weeks.”
