Ukraine, Zelenskyy noted, has extensive battlefield experience with Iranian-made Shahed drones, which Russia has deployed throughout its four-year war on the country.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine will send military experts to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week to advise on how to counter Iranian drones.
“The first three countries to which we sent them, according to our agreements, are Qatar, the Emirates and Saudi Arabia,” Zelenskyy said in an audio message to reporters on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reports.
In a video message posted on X on Tuesday, Zelenskyy confirmed the dispatch of the experts.
“Our team is now on its way to the Gulf region, where they can help protect lives and stabilize the situation,“ said Zelenskyy.
Ukraine, Zelenskyy noted, has extensive battlefield experience with Iranian-made Shahed drones, which Russia has deployed throughout its four-year war on the country.
After struggling to secure enough advanced air defence systems from its allies, including U.S.-made Patriot missile batteries, Kyiv began developing its own counter-drone solutions in 2025.
Those efforts have since made Ukraine one of the world’s leading producers of systems designed to neutralise Iranian-made Shahed drones.
The low-cost but effective drones are intended to intercept Russian attack drones before they reach their targets.
According to Al Jazeera, each unit costs about $1,000 to $2,000 — a fraction of the several million dollars required to manufacture, transport and fire a high-tech U.S. interceptor.
Ukrainian manufacturers are now producing thousands of them per month.
According to Reuters, Zelenskyy confirmed that a Ukrainian team departed on Friday for Jordan, which hosts U.S. military assets at Muwaffaq Salti Airbase, to assist with efforts to counter Iranian drones.
Zelenskyy said the move followed a request from the U.S. on Thursday, as Washington seeks cheaper technology to intercept Iranian missiles targeting Israeli and U.S. defence assets, as well as other infrastructure across Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Al Jazeera reports.
“We received a request from the United States for specific support in protection against ‘shaheds’ in the Middle East region,” Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on X on Thursday, March 5.
At the moment, the U.S. is using air defence systems such as Patriot missiles, Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) batteries and Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft to intercept Iranian drones and missiles targeting its military assets in the region.
However, the systems are costly. Each interceptor missile can cost millions of dollars, and there are concerns that the U.S. stockpiles could be depleted, Al Jazeera reports.
Iran is deploying its low-cost, domestically produced Shahed drones across the Gulf and is believed to have thousands in stock. These are the same drones it has supplied to Russia during Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
The U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, which started 10 days ago when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran and killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has continued to escalate.
Iran has since carried out strikes on Israel as well as on U.S. military assets and other infrastructure in the Gulf.
