EU to sanction 8 people, entities over Iranian drone use by Russia

[October 19, 2022]  BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union governments have provisionally agreed to impose sanctions on eight people and entities over the use of Iranian-made drones in Russian strikes on Ukraine, three diplomats said.

Firefighters help a local woman evacuate from a residential building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, which local authorities consider to be Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Shahed-136, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 17, 2022. REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko

Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks. Iran denies supplying drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented.

Sanctions experts from the 27 EU members agreed to the list in a meeting on Wednesday. It will be put to national ambassadors at a meeting scheduled for the afternoon.

EU governments have until Thursday morning to decide whether to approve the sanctions, the goal being to agree the package before leaders convene in Brussels for a summit starting later in the day.

A European Commission spokesperson said there was widely-shared political agreement from foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday that the EU should react swiftly.

"Now that we have gathered our own sufficient evidence, work is ongoing in the Council with view to a clear, swift and firm response," the spokesperson told the EU's executive's daily news conference. The Council is the grouping of EU governments.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Iran has promised to provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles in addition to more drones.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and John Irish; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Andrew Cawthorne)

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