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Russian missile experts visited Iran amid tensions with Israel, according to Reuters
The seven weapons experts were booked to travel from Moscow to Tehran aboard two flights last year
March 4, 2025 11:57
2 min read
The seven weapons experts were booked to travel from Moscow to Tehran aboard two flights last year
March 4, 2025 11:57Seven senior Russian missile specialists made multiple trips to Iran last year, further deepening the defence cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, a report from Reuters has revealed.
According to travel records and employment data reviewed by the news agency, the experts were booked on flights from Moscow to Tehran on April 24 and September 17, 2024.
The visits coincided with heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, which exchanged military strikes on each other during the year.
The individuals identified in the Reuters investigation have extensive military backgrounds, including roles in missile development and defence systems.
Six of the seven men were listed as having official government passports, marked with the prefix “20”, indicating they were either government officials or military personnel travelling on state business.
A senior Iranian defence ministry official, speaking anonymously, confirmed that Russian missile experts had made multiple visits to Iranian missile production sites last year. This included two underground facilities.
The official, who chose to remain anonymous, did not specify the exact locations of these facilities.
These visits occurred against a backdrop of intensifying hostilities between Iran and Israel, with both sides launching military operations against each other in April and October.
According to a Western defence official familiar with the situation, Russian missile experts visited an Iranian missile base in September 2024. The base is located approximately 15 kilometres west of the port of Amirabad, situated along Iran's Caspian Sea coast.
Reuters said they “couldn't establish if the visitors referred to by the officials included the Russians on the two flights”.
Cooperation between Russia and Iran has steadily grown, especially after the signing of a 20-year military agreement between the two nations in January 2024.
The agreement has provided significant support to Moscow's military efforts in Ukraine, including the deployment of Iranian-designed Shahed drones in combat.
The flight booking details for the seven Russian missile experts were initially obtained by Hooshyaran-e Vatan, a hacker group opposed to the Iranian government.
The group passed on the information to Reuters, which was then corroborated through Russian passenger manifests.
These records showed that five of the experts were booked on a flight from Moscow to Tehran on April 24, 2024, while two others flew on a separate flight on September 17, 2024.
Among those identified in the April flight were Denis Kalko, 48, and Vadim Malov, 46, both of whom are involved in Russia's air-defense missile programmes.
Kalko worked at the Academy for Military Anti-Aircraft Defence, and Malov was affiliated with a military unit that trains anti-aircraft missile forces.
Additionally, Andrei Gusev, 45, Alexander Antonov, 43, and Marat Khusainov, 54, were also booked on the April flight. Antonov and Khusainov are both experts in rocket and artillery systems, while Gusev's expertise lies in general purpose rockets and artillery munitions.
On the September flight, two Russian missile experts were identified: Sergei Yurchenko, 46, and Oleg Fedosov, 46.
Yurchenko has a history of working in the Rocket and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defence, while Fedosov is affiliated with the Directorate of Advanced Inter-Service Research and Special Projects.
Fedosov’s work focuses on the development of advanced weapons systems, and he has previously travelled from Tehran to Moscow in October 2023.
When Reuters reached out to the individuals identified in the report, five of them denied ever having visited Iran or their military affiliation altogether. One declined to comment and another abruptly hung up.
The Iranian Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the public relations office of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) all declined to provide statements on the matter, Reuters said. Similarly, the Russian Ministry of Defence did not respond to enquiries about the visits.