Iran has secretly supplied large quantities of bullets, rockets and mortar bombs to Russia for the war in Ukraine and plans to send more.

As the British TV channel Sky News reports, its source claims that two Russian-flagged cargo ships headed to Russia via the Caspian Sea; they left an Iranian port in January.

The alleged cargo consisted of approximately 100 million rounds of ammunition of various calibres, such as 5.56 mm, 7.62 mm, 9 mm, 12.7 mm and 14.5 mm, for use in weapons such as pistols, assault rifles and machine guns.

According to the source, the ships were also carrying a range of other ammunition, the source said, including approximately 300,000 shells, such as 40mm grenades for grenade launchers, 107mm anti-tank rockets, and mortar bombs of various calibres – 60mm, 81mm and 120mm – as well as rockets for multiple-launch rocket systems (130mm, 122mm and 152mm) and armour penetration  shells (115mm and 125mm).

In addition, the source said there were about 10,000 flak jackets and helmets on board of these ships, too.

The source noted that Moscow paid for the ammunition in cash and thus circumvented Western sanctions against itself and Iran.

The ships, which probably took part in the transportation of cargo, are named Musa Jalil and Begey, both sail under the Russian flag. One of the ships left Iran around 10 January, the source said, and the other one around 12 January. They had approximately 200 containers on board.

The source insists he is confident in his estimate of the amount of ammunition being carried by the ships. "Two hundred containers on two ships are capable of transporting this amount of ammunition," he said.

It was not possible to independently check what exactly the ships were transporting.

The new "aid" adds to previous accusations against Tehran that it provided Moscow with hundreds of deadly drones (Ukr) that played a critical role in attempts to destroy Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

"Russia continues to use Iran as a 'rear base'," said the source in the secret services, describing the close military ties between the two countries.

Western and Ukrainian officials have also expressed their concern that Iran could supply the Russian Federation with much more lethal ballistic missiles, but there is no evidence of this yet.

According to the mass media, Russia concluded a secret agreement with Iran on the return of enriched uranium (Ukr) exported within the framework of the "nuclear agreement" of 2015.