Russia and Iran insisted that the United Nations has no mandate to inspect the ‘kamikaze’ drones, amid accusations they came from Tehran, reports Al Jazeera.
Russia has issued a warning against the United Nations against investigating its use of drone in Ukraine, amidst accusations the weapon came from Iran and were used in violation of UN arms restrictions on the Middle Eastern country.
The US, France and the United Kingdom called a closed-door Security Council meeting on the drones after an attack on Kyiv on Monday that killed at least five people, and caused widespread damage to power stations and other civilian infrastructure.
Ukraine says its military has shot down over 220 Iranian drones, formally known as uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV), in little more than a month and has invited UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Ukraine to examine some of the wreckage it has collected.
Speaking after the Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy insisted the weapons had been made in Russia and condemned “baseless accusations and conspiracy theories”.
He called on Guterres and his staff to “abstain from engaging in any illegitimate investigation. Otherwise, we will have to reassess our collaboration with them, which is hardly in anyone’s interests,” he told reporters.
Bd-pratidin English/Ishrar Tabassum
