Arkady Milman, an Israeli diplomat and former Russian Ambassador to Israel, believes that there was direct Russian involvement in the preparation for the Hamas invasion of Israeli territory. He expressed this opinion during an interview on Espresso.
"There was direct Russian involvement in the preparation for this Hamas invasion of our territory. I'll explain how all of this became clear. First, there are constant contacts between Hamas and Russia; delegations from Hamas travel to Moscow. Even last year, Lavrov received them in Moscow. These visits have been taking place for many years. The second point is that a lot of interesting things were revealed in an interview with one of the high-ranking Hamas leaders to a Russian propagandistic channel, where he said that Russia allowed and granted Hamas a license to build a factory in Gaza for the production of Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition for them. We didn't know about this, because if we did, this factory would have been destroyed long ago," noted the Israeli diplomat.
According to Arkady Milman, regarding the weapons used by the terrorists who entered Israel, they included RPGs (Rocket-Propelled Grenades), Cornet anti-tank missile systems, Strela portable surface-to-air missile systems, Kalashnikov rifles, grenades, and more. It is entirely possible that some of this weaponry came from Iran, which will be investigated as Iran also holds licenses for the production of this weaponry. However, it is evident that some of the weaponry came from Moscow, especially items like Cornet anti-tank missile systems.
"Furthermore, one of the Hamas leaders said that Moscow was aware of the preparation and Hamas' plans. So if Moscow sees Israel as a friend, why didn't they warn us? This high-ranking official also noted that after the invasion of Israel, which began around 6:28 on Saturday, October 7, within half an hour, Hamas contacted their friends in Moscow and informed them about the start of the operation. Moscow friends expressed great sympathy and support, wishing success in this operation. Considering the fact that the Kremlin is a strategic military partner of Iran to this day, there could have been trilateral contacts," emphasized Arkady Milman.
Milman added that some Hamas members received training in Iranian camps as well as in Lebanon and Syria.
"So, we can definitely say there are direct connections. We will certainly investigate this. I hope our intelligence will make efforts to uncover the facts and obtain clear evidence. Then we will present our findings to the Kremlin," concluded the former Russian ambassador to Israel.
