European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU’s intention to impose sanctions against Iran related to its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, which Russia uses on the battlefields in Ukraine.
For this reason, she explained, “and for the first time, we are also proposing sanctions against Iranian organizations, including those associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
US Defense Department officials tried Tuesday to dispel any suspicion that Iran is supplying drones to Russia during the war in Ukraine by releasing images and analysis of such drones circulating in the conflict to prove Tehran’s involvement.
During a press briefing in London, Defense Intelligence Agency analysts showed photos of Iranian drones that had attacked Ukraine.
A comparison of structural details such as the tail and landing gear showed that the weapons used in Ukraine were “indistinguishable” from the attack drones (Shahed 131) and (Shahed 136) and the Mohajer 6 drones used in the Middle East.
For its part, Iran said it provided Russia with a “small number” of drones prior to its military operation in Ukraine, but denied providing more since Russian troops crossed the border last February.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the Russian army uses domestically produced drones.
On the other hand, the Yale Research Center, funded by the US State Department, released a study that showed that Russia is holding about 6,000 Ukrainian children in the camps.
Moscow is transporting thousands of Ukrainian children, some as young as four months old, to camps in Crimea and Siberia.
Russia claims to seek to re-educate them, and what it is doing is tantamount to rescuing orphans or putting children in treatment.
Babies as young as four months are being transported to 43 camps across Russia, including Moscow-annexed Crimea and Siberia, for “patriotic education and connection to the pro-Russian army,” according to a report released by the Yale Research Center. funded by the US State Department.
Russia is “clearly violating” the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Civilians in Time of War, said Nathaniel Raymond, a researcher at Yale University, calling the report a “serious concern” similar to US public allegations of child abductions.
He assured journalists that Russia’s actions “in some cases can be equated with a war crime and a crime against humanity.”
The report demanded that an impartial body gain access to the camps and that Russia immediately stop adoptions of Ukrainian children.
The Ukrainian government recently said that more than 14,700 children were deported to Russia, where some of them were sexually exploited.
The report, based on satellite imagery and people’s reports, says at least 6,000 children were sent to the camps, but the number is “probably much higher.”
Russia considered its measures tantamount to rescuing orphans or transporting children for medical treatment. According to the report, some families were pressured to agree to send their children, sometimes in the hope that they would return.
He said Russian authorities sought to educate children about pro-Moscow views through educational programs, visits to patriotic sites and conversations with ex-combatants.
The children also received training in the use of firearms, knowing that Raymond denied having evidence that they had been sent to fight.
