Russia is likely to be engaging foreign mercenaries to organize drone attacks on the territory of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate has said.
It published an intercept of a conversation between two Shahed operators.
During another massive attack on Ukraine on 10 February, the Ukrainian intelligence intercepted a conversation between Iranian drone operators who were specifying the coordinates of the target.
The operators are speaking a dialect of Kurdish with a sprinkling of Farsi words. This suggests that the Russian command involves Kurdish instructors in attacks on the territory of Ukraine, who teach Russians how to use drones.
During their operations in Syria, Russian troops have already used armed groups consisting of Kurdish and Afghan mercenaries.