WASHINGTON – Russian officials immediately signaled buyer’s remorse after they received their first shipment of lethal drones from Iran to bolster their depleted arsenal, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The weapons sale underscores the toll the six-month war has taken on Russia’s military, the international isolation that has forced Russian President Vladimir Putin to depend on an unsavory ally, and the low quality of the drones supplied by Iran, U.S. officials say. U.S. officials and experts regard the drone sale as escalatory but unlikely to turn the tide in what has become a grinding war of attrition. Ukraine, armed with increasingly sophisticated weapons, is in the early stages of pushing back Russian gains in the southern part of the country.
