Russia is helping Iran prepare strikes and cyberattacks by providing intelligence and supporting hacking operations. This is a systemic interaction that encompasses satellite intelligence and cyber domains.
Russia is helping Iran prepare strikes and cyberattacks by providing intelligence and supporting hacking operations. This is a systemic interaction that encompasses satellite intelligence and cyber domains.
As Reuters reports, citing a Ukrainian intelligence assessment, in March Russian satellites conducted at least 24 surveys of objects in 11 Middle Eastern countries. In total, 46 targets were recorded, including military bases, airports and energy infrastructure. According to the assessment, after such surveys, individual objects became targets for strikes by Iranian missiles and drones.
The surveillance areas included Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Iraq and Israel. In particular, several shots were taken around the King Khalid military base, where they could try to determine the location of elements of the THAAD air defense system. Separately, surveillance of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant part of the world’s oil and gas supplies pass, was recorded.
In parallel, according to the Ukrainian side, Russian and Iranian hacker groups are coordinating attacks. They interact via Telegram and synchronize actions during operations. This includes, in particular, intensifying attacks on telecommunications companies and critical infrastructure facilities in the Persian Gulf countries.
The intelligence also indicates that Iranian hackers have begun to use technical approaches typical of Russian military cyber units. This applies to both the infrastructure for attacks and individual tools.
A separate episode concerns the Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia. According to the assessment, a Russian satellite recorded the object a few days before the strike, and after the attack it flew over it again to assess the consequences.
This data fits into a broader picture of cooperation between Russia and Iran after 2022. Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed strike drones, which are being used against Ukraine, while the current cooperation is likely to encompass intelligence and cyber operations. If these assessments are confirmed, it would mark a shift from technology sharing to coordination across multiple domains of modern warfare.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Russian state media RIA Novosti reported on an allegedly successful cyberattack on the Ukrainian social network YEDNÁ, which was launched the day before.
