Ukraine has purchased 50 Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov revealed on Tuesday that Ukraine has received 50 armed drones from the Turkish arms company Baykar since the February 24 invasion of Russia.
Reznikov thanked Ukrainians and Baykar for donating three Bayraktar TB2 armed drones following a social media fundraising campaign that raised $ 20 million to buy three planes.
Baykar on Monday said he refused to take the money and would instead donate drones to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
“Thanks to the strong cooperation of the presidents of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, our army received the first Bayraktar on the battlefield in 2021,” said Renizkov, adding that “they have shown themselves very successfully in battle.”
Reznikov said Ukraine and Turkey are continuing work to build a joint Baykar plant in Ukraine to build drones, an agreement that was signed before the war.
Ukraine and Turkey have close co-operation in the defense industry, a relationship that has flourished in recent years.
Frequent flights between Turkey and Poland over the past two months indicate that Turkey has continued to send TB2 and its MAM-L ammunition to Kiev.