The Ukrainian army this Sunday denounced that the coastal city of Odessa was attacked by Iranian-made drones at dawn, two days after a Russian attack with a similar weapon killed two civilians. “Odessa was again attacked by enemy suicide drones,” the southern operational command of the Ukrainian army denounced.
“The enemy hit the administration building in the center of the city three times,” the command added in a Facebook post, adding that one of the drones was shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force without casualties.
Natalia Gumeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Southern Operational Command, told AFP they were “Iranian drones”.
The attack came two days after two civilians were killed in Odessa in a Russian attack with an Iranian drone. Also on Friday, four Iranian drones were shot down in the south of the country, according to Ukrainian armed forces.
In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine released a statement informing its decision to revoke the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador to the country and significantly reduce the number of diplomatic staff at the Iranian embassy in Kiev. “The Iranians have been informed that supplying arms to Russia goes against neutrality, respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the same ministry added.
“Supplying arms to Russia to wage war in Ukraine is an act of hostility and a serious blow to relations between Ukraine and Iran,” he added.
Tehran said on Saturday that it regretted the Ukrainian government’s decision. “Tehran regrets the decision of the Ukrainian government regarding diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement. “This decision is based on unfounded information sent by foreign media propaganda” against Iran, he added.
Kanani emphasized “his country’s clear policy of active neutrality in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, its opposition to the war and the need for a political solution without the use of force”. Iran will “respond appropriately to the Ukrainian government’s decision,” he added.
Source: DN
