LONDON – Over the past year, several senior Russian missile specialists have traveled to Iran as the country has strengthened its defense ties with Moscow, according to a Reuters review of travel records and employment data.
Seven weapons experts were scheduled to fly from Moscow to Tehran on April 24 and September 17 last year. Documents detailing the bookings and the passenger manifest for the second flight confirm their travel plans.
The booking records include passport numbers, with six of the seven bearing the “20” prefix—signifying official state business passports issued to government officials and military personnel for foreign assignments, as per Russian government regulations and a foreign ministry document. Reuters could not determine the purpose of their visits.
A senior Iranian defense ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Russian missile specialists visited multiple Iranian missile production sites last year, including two underground facilities. Some of these visits reportedly took place in September, though the locations were not disclosed.
A Western defense official, who monitors Russia-Iran military cooperation and also requested anonymity, stated that an unspecified number of Russian missile experts visited an Iranian missile base roughly 15 kilometers west of Amirabad port on Iran’s Caspian Sea coast in September. It remains unclear whether these officials referred to the Russians aboard the two flights.
All seven individuals identified by Reuters have military backgrounds, with two holding the rank of colonel and two as lieutenant colonel. A review of Russian databases, including employment, tax, phone, and vehicle records, indicates their expertise. Two specialize in air-defense missile systems, three in artillery and rocketry, one in advanced weapons development, and another has experience at a missile-testing range. However, Reuters could not confirm whether they still hold these positions, as the employment data spans from 2021 to 2024.
Their travel to Tehran coincided with heightened tensions for Iran, as it engaged in a series of retaliatory strikes with its longtime adversary, Israel, in April and October.
Reuters contacted all seven men by phone. Five denied visiting Iran or working for the military, one declined to comment, and another ended the call.
Iran’s defense and foreign ministries, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—which oversees Iran’s ballistic missile program—declined to comment. The Russian defense ministry also did not respond to inquiries.
Military cooperation between the two nations has already impacted Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Iranian-designed Shahed drones deployed in large numbers on the battlefield.
Hooshyaran-e Vatan, an activist hacker group opposed to the Iranian government, provided Reuters with flight booking details for the seven men, claiming they traveled with VIP status.
Reuters corroborated this with the Russian passenger manifest for the September flight, sourced from an individual with access to Russian state databases. However, as Reuters could not obtain the manifest for the April flight, it remains unverified whether all five Russian specialists booked on it actually made the trip.
Among the April flight’s five booked passengers were Denis Kalko, 48, and Vadim Malov, 46. Tax records from 2021 show Kalko worked at the Russian defense ministry’s Academy for Military Anti-Aircraft Defense. Malov was affiliated with a military unit training anti-aircraft missile forces, according to 2024 car ownership records.
Others booked on the April flight include Andrei Gusev, 45, Alexander Antonov, 43, and Marat Khusainov, 54. Gusev, a lieutenant colonel, serves as deputy head of the General Purpose Rockets and Artillery Munitions faculty at the defense ministry’s Penza Artillery Engineering Institute, per a 2021 institute news report. Antonov has worked at the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate, as indicated by 2024 car registration records, while Khusainov, a colonel, has ties to the Kapustin Yar missile-testing range, according to banking data.
Two individuals were aboard the September flight to Tehran. One was Sergei Yurchenko, 46, who has worked at the Rocket and Artillery Directorate, according to undated mobile phone records. His passport number carried the “22” prefix, which, based on Russian government guidelines, is not assigned to private citizens or diplomats, though its exact designation remains unclear.
The second passenger, 46-year-old Oleg Fedosov, is listed in residence records as being affiliated with the Directorate of Advanced Inter-Service Research and Special Projects—a defense ministry branch focused on developing next-generation weapons systems.
Russian border records show Fedosov had previously traveled from Tehran to Moscow in October 2023. On both occasions, he used a passport designated for official state business.
