Zelenskyy accuses Russia of assisting Iran with satellite imagery of U.S. bases in Middle East

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday he will share evidence with the United States showing Russia is assisting Iran in targeting U.S. bases in the Middle East via satellite surveillance.

“Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and U.S. military facilities located there,” Zelenskyy said on X. “These images subsequently appear in Iran. At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia’s satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes — both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted.”

Zelenskyy’s accusations of Russia helping Iran target U.S. troops are not the first. Multiple sources, including a senior U.S. official with direct knowledge, told CBS News six days into the war that Russia was providing intelligence to Iran regarding U.S. positions in the Middle East. 

The allegation has lingered in media reports over the last few months, often with China possibly being involved as well.

During a hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was directly asked whether Russia and China were helping Iran. His answer was somewhat unclear, but he did say they were helping Iran.

“There’s definitely adversary alignment, attempts to do so, and there are many ways that we deter that. And the depth and extent of it ought to remain classified, and it should,” Hegseth said. “But there are ways in which both of those countries are limiting, at different levels, enabling some of the things Iran is doing, yes.”

However, just days later, President Trump contradicted his secretary of defense, saying on Truth Social he did not believe they were assisting Iran. He mentioned both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and said they had assured him they were not involved.

“Therefore, two major Countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating,” Mr. Trump wrote. “If they did, it would be very bad for them — Certainly not in their best interests.”

But Zelenskyy on Saturday pointed to specific instances of Russia assisting Iran with targeting bases with U.S. troops.

“On July 19 and 20 alone, four air bases fell within the area of interest of Russian satellites — two in Bahrain, one in Jordan, and one in Kuwait,” Zelenskyy continued. “The purpose is clear. None of us in the world should turn a blind eye to one very simple fact: evil always seeks ways to make things worse and spread further. Russia must be stopped. This war must be stopped. Pressure on the aggressor must work.”

Eighteen American service members are believed to have been killed since the start of the Iran war, including four U.S. soldiers in recent days — three in the Iranian attack on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and one during a controlled demolition of an Iranian drone in Iraq. 

Early in the war, six U.S. service members were killed in an Iranian strike on an installation in Kuwait in March. Six more were killed in the same month when a refueling plane crashed in Iraq, and one was killed in an Iranian strike on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Nearly 100 American service members have been injured in multiple Iranian airstrikes on bases in the Middle East region this month, U.S. officials told CBS News last week.