Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed Russia is mapping US assets in the Middle East \u2013 in alliance with Iran which helped blow up a \u00a3700million spy plane.<\/p>\n
Citing Ukrainian intelligence, the president accused the Kremlin of sharing satellite images ahead of the Iranian bombing of a US base in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsign up for Sun<\/span> Newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cthis morning<\/span>I was told that photographs of US military facilities in the Middle East and the Gulf region were taken by Russian satellites iran<\/span>,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n \u201cOn March 25, they took pictures Prince<\/span> at Sultan Air Base saudi arabia<\/span>“<\/p>\n At least 12 US personnel were injured, two of them seriously, by Iran’s barrage of ballistic missiles and drones.<\/p>\n Photos also showed the damaged aircraft \u2013 a US Air Force E-3 Sentry \u2013 on the ground.<\/p>\n ‘great progress’<\/p>\n Trump says deal with Iran will ‘probably’ happen soon – but threatens to ‘kill’ if it doesn’t happen<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n war of words<\/p>\n In rebuke of Trump, Starmer said, Iran is not our war and we will not be dragged into it. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Its tail appears separated from the rest of its body, and its rotating radar dome has been destroyed.<\/p>\n The aircraft is part of the U.S. military’s Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, and allows surveillance of a 120,000-square-mile battlefield from the ground to the stratosphere. <\/p>\n It can track about 600 targets at any time, ranging from other aircraft, to missiles, to large drones, even tanks.<\/p>\n Its destruction is being seen as a major blow to US surveillance capabilities in the region.<\/p>\n Former US Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, who has flown the plane, told CNN that this could affect “the ability to control fighters and lead them to their targets or protect them from hostile aircraft and missile systems.”<\/p>\n He said: \u201cExtraordinary measures are often taken to protect it from enemy fire during flight. <\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n “Sometimes it gets fighter escorts and to keep it safe it is never allowed to fly over enemy territory.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the base \u2013 a joint Saudi-US installation about 60 miles from Riyadh \u2013 had already been hit twice in the week before. <\/p>\n Zelensky further warned that Russian satellites destroyed a secret US-UK joint military facility on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago.<\/p>\n The island, which is administered from London, was a vital, high-volume launchpad for US air campaigns in the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War. <\/p>\n\n
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