A Russian defense advisor was caught on a hot mic saying 'we all know the drones are Iranian' but the Kremlin doesn't want to admit it

• A Russian defense advisor recently revealed that Russia uses Iranian-made drones in Ukraine.
• His remarks came during a recent TV interview, when he didn't realize he was actually on air.

An advisor to Russia's defense ministry was caught on a hot mic revealing that Moscow has used suicide drones made by Iran to attack Ukrainian cities — something the Kremlin has refused to publicly admit.

Ruslan Pukhov, who is also a military expert, recently joined Russian Business Channel (RBC TV) for a television interview. After he is introduced by the presenter, Pukhov can be seen in a clip shared to social media walking on stage and taking a seat.

Pukhov appears unaware that the show is already on the air, and he reveals before the interview gets started that Russia has been using Iranian-made suicide drones, even if the Kremlin isn't acknowledging it.

"Now, I wouldn't want to rock the boat, so let's go easy on the subject of drones," Pukhov could be heard saying to the presenter. "You know the expression, 'we all have an asshole but we don't use the word?' We all know the drones are Iranian, but the government has not admitted to it."

Pukhov's reference is alluding to a children's song about a parent's attempt to curb their daughter's use of profanity.

Despite accusations and evidence presented by Western governments and intelligence agencies, Moscow and Tehran have denied the use of Iranian-made suicide drones in Ukraine — which have emerged recently as a weapon of choice by Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces.

Russian troops have ramped up attacks on Ukrainian cities far from the battlefield in recent weeks using these explosive suicide drones — identified as the Shahed-136 model — in a deadly Blitz-style terror campaign across the country. In addition to the Shahed-136, Russian forces have also deployed Iranian-made Shahed-129, Shahed-191, and Qods Mohajer-6 drones.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said Wednesday that Kyiv has managed to down 223 Shahed-136 drones since mid-September and called for sanctions to be imposed on Iran, something the US has signaled could be on the table.

"The United States began warning in July that Iran was planning to transfer UAVs to Russia for use in Russia's brutal war against Ukraine, and we now have abundant evidence that these UAVs are being used to strike Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure," US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a Wednesday statement.

"As Iran continues to lie and deny providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, we are committed to working with allies and partners to prevent the transfer of dangerous weaponry to Russia," he continued.

"We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on all involved in these transfers, Price said. "We will also continue to surge unprecedented security assistance to Ukraine, including air defense capabilities, so that Ukraine can defend itself from these weapons."