Israel providing Ukraine intelligence on Russia's Iran-made drones

Israel is providing Ukraine with intelligence on Iranian drones being deployed by Russia, according to a New York Times report on Wednesday.

The US daily cited an unnamed Ukrainian intelligence official as saying that "basic intelligence" was being shared on the Iranian-made Shahed 136 drones, which have been used in Russia's invasion of its neighbour.

Moscow has bought 2,400 of the Shahed 136 drones from Tehran, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The NYT source said that the drones have not lived up to expectations, being "slow" and "easy to target" - claims which have not been independently verified.

Ukraine accused Russia of using the drones in attacks on Monday and Thursday, with one of the strikes having killed 12 civilians and injured more than 100 others, according to the UN.

Amid its appeals for international support after Russia's invasion began in February, Ukraine has also criticised Israel's apparent lack of assistance.

In an interview with French outlet Ouest-France in September, Zelensky said he was "shocked" at Israel's lack of support.

"Israel gave us nothing, nothing, zero…I understand that they have to defend their land, but I have received information that Israel is exporting its weapons to other countries", he said.

More recently, Ukraine's ambassador to Israel urged Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid to "do more" to help Kyiv.

"We do hope that Prime Minister Lapid, who has great sympathy for us, and the whole Israeli government will do more to support us," Yevgen Korniychuk told Israel's i24 News.

Israel has publicly expressed support for Ukraine. But wary of damaging relations with Russia, a powerbroker in neighbouring Syria, it initially avoided direct criticism of Moscow and has not enforced formal sanctions on Russian oligarchs.