Friday 20 / March / 2026
Ukraine has sent military units to multiple Middle Eastern countries to help intercept drones, top Ukrainian defense official Rustem Umerov said.
Umerov said in a post on X that he had visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait in the Arabian Gulf as well as the Levantine nation of Jordan and that Kyiv had deployed units to those countries.
"Ukrainian military specialists are operating in each of these countries under the coordination of the National Security and Defense Council," he said.
"Interception units have been deployed to protect civilian and critical infrastructure. Work is also under way to expand coverage areas."
Umerov is the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, a body that includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several ministers and other senior Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine's military has experience downing Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones as they have been utilized by Russia in its invasion of its neighbor, which it launched in February 2022.
Tehran has targeted sites in Arabian Gulf countries in response to the United States and Israel's bombing campaign in Iran.
Fighting in the Middle East has revealed that many nations are ill equipped to face new forms of warfare, including massive deployment of drones. Attempts to shoot down Iranian drones in the Gulf states using expensive missiles from Western air defense systems have had limited success.
However, in four years of war, Ukraine has learned to combat Iranian and Russian drones using significantly more cost-effective solutions. This has fueled growing interest in the country's interceptor drones and its first-hand expertise in drone defense.
"It is clear to everyone that today, only Ukraine's experience can truly help intercept massive attacks by (Iranian) Shahed drones," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a WhatsApp conversation with journalists.
"I think everyone has realized that without our military, our pilots, without our software and our radar system, without all of that, the interceptor drones simply don't work."
Drones know-how has a short shelf life
However, according to Dmytro Sledyuk of the Ukrainian Dronarium Academy, the current demand for Ukrainian technology and expertise is likely to peak soon.
"In the initial phase, Ukraine is ready to supply interceptor drones," he said. "But these will likely be quickly copied by partners and produced in larger quantities, as the technologies used by Ukraine are not particularly complex or unique. They are heavily modified FPV drones."
He told DW that Ukrainian expertise is a "valuable commodity" right now, stressing that the government should remove bureaucratic hurdles so the nation can meet international demand for Ukrainian products and knowledge.
"We need to simplify access to this market," he said. "Our private companies and the military can't just travel to the Middle East and get started up there. Quick decisions by the government are needed. If the whole process drags on for over a year, interest will wane."
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said on social media that Ukraine had already received 11 requests from Iran's neighboring countries, European states and the US on how to combat Iranian drones. Kyiv has already responded to some of them with "concrete decisions and concrete support."
