UKRAINIAN President Volody­myr Zelensky claimed over the weekend that Russia is assisting Iran in targeting US bases in the Mid­dle East by sharing satellite surveillance.

“Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and US military facilities located there,” Zelensky said on X.

“These images subsequently appear in Iran. At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia’s satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes — both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted.”

The remarks came after Kyiv see­mingly opened a front against Teh­ran in the Caspian, the world’s largest inland sea, with Iran threatening retaliation after a deadly attack by Ukraine on an Iranian ship.

Tehran threatens retaliation after Kyiv attacks Iranian vessel in Caspian Sea

On Saturday, Zelensky claimed his country had carried out long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea against vessels transporting military cargo involving Iran.

He wrote on social media that Ukrainian armed forces had achieved “very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea — including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship”.

Ukraine’s intelligence services, for their part, reported on Telegram that drone attacks had been carried out against “cargo vessels under international sanctions that were used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia”.

According to Iranian state television, the foreign ministry had summoned the Ukrainian charge d’aff­aires in Tehran on Saturday to protest this “hostile and criminal act”.

On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi hit back at Kyiv for the attack on its commercial vessel, which he said had claimed the life of a sailor. He described it as “a blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war”.

He added that, during calls with the European Union’s Kaja Kallas and Russian top diplomat Sergei Lavrov, he “made clear that what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED”.

Iran’s foreign ministry also said the attack caused the ship “to explode, killing one sailor and injuring several others”.

The Islamic republic “has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine”, the ministry said in a statement.

Russia helping Iran?

Zelensky’s accusations of Russia helping Iran target US troops are not the first. Multiple sources, including a senior US official, had told CBS News six days into the war that Russia was providing intelligence to Iran regarding US positions in the Middle East.

The allegation has lingered in media reports over the last few months, often with China possibly being involved as well.

During a hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this week, Defence Secre­tary Pete Hegseth was directly asked whether Russia and China were helping Iran. His answer was somewhat unclear, but he did say they were helping Iran.

“There’s definitely adversary alignment, attempts to do so, and there are many ways that we deter that. And the depth and extent of it ought to remain classified, and it should,” Hegseth said. “But there are ways in which both of those countries are limiting, at different levels, enabling some of the things Iran is doing, yes.”

However, just days later, President Trump contradicted his secretary of defence, saying on Truth Social he did not believe they were assisting Iran. He mentioned both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and said they had assured him they were not involved.

But on Saturday, Zelensky pointed to specific instances of Russia assisting Iran with targeting bases with US troops.

“On July 19 and 20 alone, four air bases fell within the area of interest of Russian satellites — two in Bahrain, one in Jordan, and one in Kuwait,” Zelensky wrote.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2026