Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met on Friday with the head of Turkish defense firm Baykar and said the company will set up a factory in Ukraine to build unmanned aerial vehicles.
Baykar’s Bayraktar TB2 drone has been extremely popular in Ukraine, where it helped destroy many Russian artillery systems and armored vehicles.
“We discussed the details of the construction of the Baykar factory in Ukraine and the production of new goods using Ukrainian components,” Zelensky said after meeting with Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar in Kiev.
A video posted online showed Zelensky awarding Bayraktar the Order of Merit of Ukraine. In return, Zelensky received a traditional Ukrainian shirt embroidered with a drone.
Russia has previously complained to Turkey about its sale of drones to Ukraine.