0645GMT//Iran criticises Russia; The Kremlin "lures" African women to Russia to make drones

IRANIAN CRITICISM OF RUSSIA: An Iranian official on Tuesday accused the Kremlin of giving Israel the coordinates of its air defence systems during its 12-day war last month. Seyed Mohammad Sadr, who advises Iran's Supreme Leader, told Iranian media that the "strategic alliance" between Russia and Iran was "useless". (COMMENT: This is the strongest criticism from Iran of Russia's lack of help for its supposed ally during the 12-day war. Iran supplied Russia with drones and missiles during the first three years of the war in Ukraine, but the Kremlin appears to have made the calculation that it was better off repairing strained relations with Israel. Russia-Iran relations have soured over the past couple of months.)

LURING AFRICAN WOMEN TO MAKE DRONES: South Africa's government warned women not to respond to job adverts in Russia. The media has reported that the Kremlin has been using a group linked to the BRICS economic group to lure women to Russia on the pretext of earning $800/month working in construction. Instead, the reports said, 90% of the women end up manufacturing drones at the Kremlin's main drone plant in Kazan. (COMMENT: This story is important for two reasons. Firstly, it shows the cynicism of Russia. Secondly, it highlights Russia's workforce problem. It is so low on workers that it has to fly in women from Africa to produce drones. Also, Russia appears to have been using its BRICS connections to pull in the women.)

PROPAGANDISTS INFIGHTING: Russia's government has labelled Sergei Markov, a prominent pro-war and pro-Putin propagandist, and Mikhail Gusman, first deputy director of the state-owned TASS news agency, as foreign agents for promoting the Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev. Both men praised Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev at a conference in Azerbaijan last month. (COMMENT: This reflects back just how broken Russia-Azerbaijan relations are. The men have only been sanctioned since the collapse in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.)

OIL REFINING PROBLEMS: Russia's emergency services said that they had finally extinguished a fire at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in the south of the country, six days after Ukrainian drones attacked it. The refinery is the largest in southern Russia. (COMMENT: Ukraine's tactics of attacking Russian oil refineries have been highly effective. Analysts have estimated that it has knocked out 17% of Russia's oil refining capacity. Fuel shortages have been reported in Russia's regions.)

OIL EXPORTING PROBLEMS: Ust-Luga, Russia's main Baltic Sea port, has lost half its oil-exporting capacity because of regular Ukrainian drone attacks. (COMMENT: The port is an important symbol of Russian export power, so this export cut hits morale too.)