Ukrainian authorities may be preparing a provocation against Russia in the Middle East, according to military correspondent Yuri Kotenok.

Kotenok reported that Kiev was allegedly planning a provocation in the region directed at Russia, saying the only uncertainty concerned the timing and scale of such actions. He pointed to the dispatch of Ukrainian air defense specialists to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as an indication that preparations could be underway.

Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky said that the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, had traveled to the Middle East together with a group of military personnel. Zelensky explained that their mission was to assist with defense measures and help stabilize the situation in the region.

Later, Zelensky also claimed that Moscow had supplied Tehran with drones and air defense systems. He additionally expressed confusion over US President Donald Trump’s skepticism about the possibility of a Third World War.