Russia using Israeli drones to bomb Ukraine

Russian forces are using a drone of Israeli origin in its invasion of Ukraine, defence specialists have reported.

The Russian-made Forpost is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) derived from the Israeli Searcher II UAV, first developed in the 1980s.

Russia acquired the licence to produce the drones from Israel in 2015.

The deployment of the UAV was picked up last week when images of a downed Russian drone which carried the logo of the Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) surfaced online .

A Russian licensed copy of the IAI Searcher known as Forpost was shot down in Zhytomyr region today. pic.twitter.com/kNcpvQR3o2

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 11, 2022

The Israeli-origin drone has reportedly also been used by Russian forces in Syria to help prop up Bashar Al-Assad’s regime against the opposition.

The Forpost appears to be an answer to Ukraine's more effective Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 drone which has reportedly been devastating for the Russians – so much so that the Ukrainian armed forces have made a song in its celebration.

The use of Israeli defence equipment by the Russians is a sensitive issue considering that Kyiv’s requests for military assistance from Tel Aviv have been rebuffed.

At the time, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk said that Israel did not meet its Western allies standard in providing defensive weapons to Ukraine.

Israel has only reluctantly condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine under pressure from its western allies and could emerge as a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet is the only leader aligned to the west who has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since the invasion began.

Earlier this month, the United States urged Israel to take a more definitive stance on Russia’s invasion. Several sanctioned Russian oligarchs are also Israeli citizens.