JUST IN: White House NSC coordinator John Kirby says Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea assisting Russian pilots who bombarded Kyiv with Iranian drones on Monday.
"Iran is now directly engaged on the ground," Kirby says.
Defense & national security correspondent @AlMonitor. DC by way of Cairo, Amman, Syria, Iraq, etc. Send me a tip 📩 Signal (202)-999-7100.
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