Zelenskyy accuses Russia of helping Iran with satellite imagery of US bases in the Middle East

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that he will share evidence with the United States that shows that Russia is helping Iran target American bases in the Middle East through satellite surveillance.

“Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf regions and the US military facilities located there,” Zelenskyy told X. “These images will later appear in Iran. At the same time, there is a clear correlation between the Russian satellite image of these sites and the Iranian strikes – both before the attack, preparation, and damage afterwards.”

Zelenskyy’s allegations that Russia is helping Iran attack US forces are not the first. Multiple sources, including a senior US official with direct knowledge, he told CBS News six days into the war Russia was providing intelligence to Iran about US positions in the Middle East.

These allegations have persisted in media reports over the past few months, often involving China as well.

During a hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked specifically whether Russia and China are helping Iran. His answer was vague, but he said they were helping Iran.

“Certainly there are enemy preparations, efforts to do so, and there are many ways we prevent that. And the depth and the level of it should always be classified, and it should,” Hegseth said. “But there are ways that both of these countries are mitigating, at different levels, doing some of the things that Iran is doing, yes.”

However, a few days later, President Trump contradicted his defense secretary, saying on Truth Social that he does not believe they are helping Iran. He mentioned that both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have assured him that they are not involved.

“Therefore, the two major countries that people often talk about in terms of Iran, in my opinion, are not participating,” Mr. “If they did, it would have been worse for them – It certainly wouldn’t have been better for them.”

But Zelenskyy on Saturday pointed to specific incidents of Russia helping Iran by targeting US bases and troops.

“Only on July 19 and 20, four air bases fell into the area of ​​interest of Russian satellites – two in Bahrain, one in Jordan, and one in Kuwait,” Zelenskyy continued. “The goal is clear. None of us in the world should ignore one very simple fact: evil always looks for ways to make things worse and spread even more. Russia must be stopped. This war must be stopped. The pressure on the perpetrator must work.”

Eighteen US service members are believed to have been killed since the start of the war with Iran, including four US servicemen in recent days – three in the Iranian attack on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and one in the downing of an Iranian airstrike in Iraq.

At the start of the war, six US service members were killed in an Iranian strike on an installation in Kuwait in March. Another six were killed the same month when a refueling plane crashed in Iraq, and one was killed in an Iranian strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

About 100 American service members were injured in multiple Iranian drone strikes on bases in the Middle East region this monthUS officials told CBS News last week.