A Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone, secured by Lithuania for Ukraine after a local crowdfunding campaign, is expected to be sent to Kyiv in the coming hours.
“Vanagas” (which means “hawk” in Lithuanian), along with ammunition, arrived in the Baltic country on Monday, Arvidas Anusauskas, the country’s defense minister, said. tweetedAfter a press introduction on Wednesday, Anoushka said that the drone will be transferred to Ukraine soon.
The Last Hours of the “Bayraktar” Vanagas in Lithuania. Very soon it will be delivered to Ukraine.” he tweeted,
The crowdfunding campaign was launched last month by Lithuanian online broadcaster Livesvs TV and was able to secure around 6 million euros ($6.11 million) to purchase the drone.
The purchase was organized by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, but it says the manufacturer donated the drone for free after learning it was being purchased through a crowdfunding campaign.
The Lithuanian Defense Ministry said in a statement, “The citizens of Lithuania raised funds for this aircraft, but inspired by this idea, the Turkish company ‘Baykar’, the manufacturer of ‘Bayartar’, decided to donate it.” “Out of 5.9 million euros donated, 1.5 million euros were allocated to arming unmanned aircraft.”
This is not the first time that Byker has donated some of its drones to Ukraine’s armed forces. Last month, after a Ukrainian crowdfunding campaign secured enough money to buy three drones, the company said it would donate them for free.
“We want the funds raised to go to the struggling people of Ukraine,” it said in a statement on June 27.
The Bayraktar TB2 drone has played an important role in the defense of Ukraine against Russia. The country had about 20 unmanned aerial vehicles before the war broke out on 24 February, but Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksey Reznikov said on 28 June that his office had been able to secure up to 50 drones since the invasion began.
“In the near future, almost all the capacity of the Baykar Makina plant will be focused on meeting the needs of the Armed Forces. It is about ordering dozens more drones, ”said Reznikov.