Leaked documents suggest Iranian kamikaze drones have become vital for Kremlin.

Russia has been buying Iranian kamikaze drones Shahed for two years and shipping takes place via the Caspian Sea or third countries. What was less known until recently is how much Moscow was paying for a drone, which is now an important part of its arsenal against Ukraine.

The Institute for the Study of War, citing a hacker group known as the Prana Network, learned that Russia pays $193,000 per Shahed-136 drone in batches of 6,000 drones, totaling approximately $1.1 billion for all. Another type of drone, Shahed-238, costs $1.4 million apiece, with the Kremlin planning to buy 677 units a year for $947 million.

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According to approximately 10 gigabytes of data stolen from the servers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, another type of Shahed-238 costs about $900,000 per drone, with plans to purchase 2,310 per year, totaling just under $2.1 billion.

The reconnaissance and attack Shahed-107 drones are priced at $460,000 each, with plans to purchase 2,310 units, totaling about $1.5 billion.

A Shahed 136 launcher Great Prophet v2. Credit: The Iran Primer

The main entry points in the Caspian Sea are the Astrakhan Port, the Makhachkala Port, and the Olya Port. Moscow’s Central Asian allies Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan are parties to the shipment routes. Azerbaijan is suspected to be helping Russia too in return for abandoning Armenia in the brief war for Nagorny Karabakh.

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This data breach suggests that the Iranian military industry has been exploiting Russia’s economic weaknesses to earn much needed freely-convertible currency as both countries have been under Western sanctions. This year alone Tehran is expected to pocket at least $4 billion for Shaheds alone.

Iran is known as the sole foreign supplier of kamikaze drones to Russia. A part of drones for the aggressor’s army is made inside Russia under Iranian license.

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