Zelensky Reveals Russia Gave Iran Satellite Intelligence on 50 Israeli Power Grid Targets — Mirroring Ukraine Tactics

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed on Sunday that Russia has been secretly providing Iran with satellite intelligence identifying more than 50 Israeli energy infrastructure targets — a disclosure that exposed a new and alarming dimension to the US-Iranian conflict and drew furious condemnation from Washington and Jerusalem.

Zelensky, speaking during a visit to Damascus where he met with Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, said Ukrainian intelligence had confirmed that Russian military satellites had mapped Israeli power grid assets — including substations, transmission lines, and generating facilities — and passed those targeting packages directly to Iranian military planners. The approach, he said, was "identical" to Russia's systematic destruction of Ukraine's own power infrastructure, which has been one of Moscow's most devastating strategies in the ongoing conflict.

"Russia is doing to Israel what Russia has done to Ukraine," Zelensky said at a joint press conference with al-Sharaa. "The same satellites. The same lists. The same intention — to turn off the lights and break the will of a free people."

The disclosure has significant implications for how the international community understands the war now raging between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran. Rather than a bilateral conflict driven primarily by Iran's nuclear ambitions and the US decision to support Israel's preemptive strikes, the revelation suggests the conflict has become a proxy arena for Russia to inflict damage on American strategic partners without deploying its own forces.

Russia's foreign ministry denied the allegations, calling them "Ukrainian fabrications designed to deflect attention from Kyiv's failures on the battlefield." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had no military relationship with Iran that involved targeting data for strikes against third countries. But Western intelligence officials contacted by multiple news outlets said Zelensky's account was consistent with intelligence their own agencies had gathered independently.

The satellite intelligence revelation comes on top of already-confirmed Russian assistance to Iran. US officials have previously acknowledged that Russia transferred Shahed drone technology to Tehran, the same drones that have been used against both Ukrainian and Israeli targets. The combination of drone technology transfers and now satellite targeting data amounts to what one senior US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described as "a Russian force multiplier operating through Iranian proxies."

The disclosure complicated already fraught diplomatic calculations. The White House, which has publicly called on China and Russia to stay out of the conflict, now faces pressure to respond more directly to Moscow's involvement. Options under discussion reportedly include further sanctions on Russian defense entities, though the administration has been reluctant to significantly escalate economic pressure on Russia while simultaneously managing the Iran campaign.

For Israel, the intelligence was both alarming and, in some respects, confirmatory. Israeli officials said they had suspected Russian involvement in targeting guidance but had lacked the specific confirmation Zelensky provided. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a brief statement, thanked Zelensky for the disclosure and said Israel would "take all necessary steps" to address the threat to its power grid.

Zelensky's trip to Damascus also underscored his effort to build new diplomatic relationships as global attention has shifted toward the Middle East. Ukraine, he acknowledged, risks being sidelined as Western governments, media, and resources focus on the Iranian conflict — a development that could weaken support for Kyiv at a critical juncture in its own war.