Russia receives munitions and military equipment from Iraq for its military efforts in Ukraine through Iranian arms smuggling networks, according to members of the Iranian-backed Iraqi armed forces and regional intelligence services who know the process, The Guardian reported.

It is noted that military equipment and ammunition are being supplied because there has been a glitch in the Russian campaign. RPGs and anti-tank missiles were transported to Iran through the Salamja border crossing on March 26, where they were received by the Iranian military and taken by sea to Russia, said the commander of the unit that controls the crossing.

Two Brazilian-made Astros II multiple rocket launchers, known in Iraq as a licensed version of the Sajil-60, were also dismantled and shipped to Iran in pieces on April 1, according to a source in the organization.

A source who helped organize the transportation said that the Tehran authorities also presented Moscow with a Bavar 373 missile system of Iranian production, which is similar to the Russian S-300, the newspaper wrote.

In addition, the Russians need the missiles most of all, the newspaper's interlocutors say.

We note that after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Iraq received American and Western troops, and the U.S. trained and supplied various units of the Iraqi army and special forces to protect the government of Baghdad from the insurgents.

After two decades of war, the country is filled with weapons, most of which have legally passed into the hands of Iranian-backed Shiite militias opposed to the U.S. presence in the country, the paper writes. Since 2016, the formation has been officially incorporated into the Iraqi Armed Forces as part of the fight against the Islamic State.