Turkish defence firm Baykar said that it would donate three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Ukraine, after a crowdfunding campaign there raised enough funds to buy “several” of the Bayraktar TB2 model.
The TB2 has been hugely popular in Ukraine, where it helped destroy Russian artillery systems and armoured vehicles. It even became the subject of a patriotic expletive-strewn hit song in Ukraine that mocked Russian troops, with the chorus “Bayraktar, Bayraktar”
Baykar said the crowdfunding campaign in Ukraine had reached the milestone in a few days and that business leaders as well ordinary people contributed to the fund.
“Baykar will not accept payment for the TB2s, and will send three UAVs free of charge to the Ukrainian war front,” the company said in a statement. “We ask that raised funds be remitted instead to the struggling people of Ukraine,” it said.
Lithuania’s defence ministry said earlier this month that Turkey’s Defence Industry Agency would donate a TB2 to Lithuania for transfer to Ukraine after Lithuanians crowdfunded nearly 6 million euros to buy it
Photo: A Bayraktar drone is seen during a rehearsal for the Independence Day military parade in central Kyiv, Ukraine August 18, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
Sources: Press Release; Reuters