Ukraine’s Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for the Protection of State Interests in the Western Region (SpecprokuraturaZahidRegion) has announced a suspicion notice against Iranian Brigadier General Abdoli Mehrabi — head of the Organisation for Jihad of Research and Self-Sufficiency of the Aerospace Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to the investigation, in July 2022 the senior military and political leadership of the Russian Federation entered into a conspiracy with IRGC representatives regarding the supply and organisation of production of Shahed-136 strike drones for the needs of the Russian armed forces. The implementation of this arrangement was carried out under the direct supervision of Mehrabi and the structures under his control.
The suspect is also one of the heads of Iran’s missile programme and a co-owner of Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar Company (Mado), which manufactures engines for the Shahed-136 UAV — critical components that determine the range and autonomous flight capability of these drones. The military-technical cooperation between the aggressor state and its accomplice involved the application of Iranian technologies within Russia’s defence-industrial complex, large-scale deliveries of equipment and components, as well as substantial financing, including payment in gold.
In January 2023, Mehrabi, along with other Iranian representatives, visited the city of Yelabuga (Republic of Tatarstan, Russia), where mass production of strike drones was established at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone. Furthermore, the suspect was involved in the training of Russian engineers and military personnel, including the organisation of crew training in temporarily occupied territories — in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Kherson Oblast.
As a result of this cooperation, during 2023–2024 Russia received more than 13,000 Geran-2 UAVs (the Russian designation for the Iranian Shahed-136), as well as components and equipment with a combined value exceeding $324 million. These drones were subsequently transferred to the Russian army and used to carry out strikes against Ukrainian territory.
Abdoli Mehrabi has been served with a suspicion notice for aiding and abetting the waging of an aggressive war, committed by a group of persons with prior conspiracy (Part 5, Article 27; Part 2, Article 28; Part 2, Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The Prosecutor’s Office emphasises that it is systematically documenting every war crime, building a proper evidentiary record, and identifying all those involved — both direct perpetrators and those who supply the enemy with technology.