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Special Operations Forces: Iranian drone instructors, officers spotted in Belarus.

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Instructors from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are training Russian forces in Belarus and coordinating the launches of Iranian-made drones, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces said.

According to information from Belarusian partisans, these instructors coordinated Shahed-136 drone strikes on infrastructure facilities in Kyiv Oblast, as well as on northern and western regions of Ukraine.

Russian forces have completely taken control of the Baranovichi and Lida airfields in Belarus. Russian troops continue to use them to carry out attacks on Ukraine, the Special Operations Forces said.

KAN, an Israeli radio station, cited an unnamed Ukrainian source as saying that Ukrainian troops had killed 10 Iranian instructors in Russian-occupied territories of Kherson Oblast and Crimea. The instructors were training Russian troops to use Iranian-made combat drones.

The U.S. and the European Union have said they are working on sanctions against those responsible for selling Iranian kamikaze drones to Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced a motion to cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Oct. 18.

Iran has repeatedly denied supplying Russia with weaponry.

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The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

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Earlier on Jan. 1, Volodymyr Saldo, a Ukrainian politician turned top Russian proxy head of Russian-occupied parts of Kherson Oblast, accused Kyiv of launching three drones at a hotel and a cafe on the Black Sea coast. Saldo claimed that the alleged New Year drone strike on the village of Khorly killed 24 people, including a child, and wounded more than 50.

Ukraine formally joined the European Union's single roaming zone on Jan. 1, allowing Ukrainian citizens to use their mobile phone service across the European bloc without incurring additional charges.

 (Updated:  )

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