Ukraine President Zelenskyy warns Russians “should know: we will drive them to the border. To our border, the line of which has not changed,” as war rolls into 188th day.
The Biden administration released satellite imagery (not pictured) indicating that Russian officials visited Kashan Airfield on June 8 and July 5 to view the Iranian drones.
(Iranian Army via AP / AP)
Tuesday, August 30, 2022US: Russia facing technical problems with Iran drones
Russia has faced technical problems with Iranian-made drones acquired from Tehran this month for use in its war with Ukraine, according to Biden administration officials.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the US intelligence assessment, did not detail the “numerous failures." They added that the US assesses that the delivery of Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles over several days this month is likely part of a Russian plan to acquire hundreds of Iranian UAVs.
The Associated Press reported last week that Russia had recently obtained hundreds of Iranian drones capable of being used in its war against Ukraine despite US warnings to Tehran not to ship them.
The Biden administration last month released satellite imagery indicating that Russian officials visited Kashan Airfield on June 8 and July 5 to view the Iranian drones.
Russia struggling to recruit soldiers: Pentagon
Russia is struggling to find more soldiers to fight in Ukraine, even tapping prisons.
A senior US defence official said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree last Thursday was to increase the headcount of the country's army by about 10 percent to 1.15 million servicemen, starting January next year.
The Pentagon believes that "this effort is unlikely to succeed, as Russia has historically not met personnel and strength targets," the official said. "Russia has already begun trying to expand recruitment efforts," the official told journalists on the basis of anonymity.
"They've done this in part by eliminating the upper age limit for new recruits. Many of these new recruits have been observed as older, unfit and ill-trained," the official said.
IAEA team heads to nuclear plant
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said he was en route to inspect Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
The UN's nuclear watchdog has for months been asking to visit the site, warning of "the very real risk of a nuclear disaster".
Writing on Twitter, Grossi on Monday said an IAEA support and assistance mission was "now on its way" with the team due to arrive "later this week".
Ukraine troops breach Russian defences near Kherson
Ukrainian troops mounting a counter-offensive have broken through Russian defences in several sectors of the front line near the city of Kherson, a senior advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In a video interview on Youtube, Oleksiy Arestovych also said Ukrainian forces were shelling the ferries that Moscow is using to supply a pocket of Russian-occupied territory on the west bank of the Dnipro river in the Kherson region.
"This is what we have been waiting for since the spring – it is the beginning of the de-occupation of Kherson region," local government official Sergey Khlan told Ukraine's Pryamyi TV channel.
For live updates from Monday (August 29), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
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