Russia spying on Chagos Islands to help Iran smash Trump, Zelensky claims

Russia is helping Iran in its war against the US and Israel by spying on the Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president said intelligence revealed Russia had used satellites to photograph the joint UK-US base “in the interests of Iran”.

In a post on X, he said: “On March 25th, they took pictures of the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The Shaybah oil and gas field in Saudi Arabia, İncirlik Air Base in Türkiye, and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar were all imaged on March 26th.”

Iran used missiles and drones to hit the Prince Sultan base on Friday, injuring 12 American troops.

The Al Udeid base has also come under attack during the war which has now raged for more than a month.

The comments from Mr Zelensky come after UK Defence Secretary John Healey said Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” is likely helping Iran in the conflict.

American bombers are launching “defensive” strikes on Iran, including missile sites targeting the Strait of Hormuz, from Diego Garcia.

Sir Keir Starmer initially refused Donald Trump’s request to use the base to launch bombing raids on Iran, before allowing limited US action from the airfield following a ramping up of tensions and scathing criticism from the President.

The Ministry of Defence previously said it was “highly likely” Russia had shared intelligence with Iran before the outbreak of the war.

Russia has denied shared information with the Iranian regime but admitted providing it with “certain types of military equipment”.