These are the people’s Bayraktars.
Lithuania sent a Bayraktar drone to Ukraine on July 7, for which the whole country raised money. Turkish manufacturer Baykar, touched by the zeal of Lithuanians, also donated this drone for free.
The Lithuanian Defence Ministry bought equipment and missiles for the TB2 military drone with funds donated by ordinary Lithuanians. The drone was named Vanagas, which in Lithuanian means hawk.
The Lithuanian Defence Minister said that “this shows that civil initiative can move mountains and turn it into a hawk.”
The Turkish drone maker decided to donate the drone after Lithuanians raised EUR 5.9 million to buy it for Ukraine. When it became possible to use the funds elsewhere, EUR 1.5 million were allocated for arming the drone, and the rest of the amount donated will be spent on other measures to support Ukraine, which the fundraiser will decide.
People in Poland are also collecting money to buy a drone for Ukraine.
As of July 7, Poland had already collected the equivalent of more than $1.5 million for the Polish Bayraktar for Ukraine, which is 30% of its cost price.
More than 62,000 people have already donated money to the “Buy Ukraine a Bayraktar” campaign, which has been running since June 28 on the Zrzutka.pl crowdfunding platform.
The organizer, a well-known public figure, political scientist and journalist, Slavomir Serakovsky, expects raise more than $5 million by the end of July.
Well-known Poles – directors, actors, journalists, scientists and public figures – are posting on social networks to support this initiative.
Serakovsky wrote that “if small Lithuania raised funds for Bayraktar in a concise time, then much larger Poland should do the same.”
Meanwhile, Russian tourists in Turkey have suddenly discovered they’ve been funding the production of Bayraktar drones for Ukraine.
Russian tourists vacationing in Turkey have begun to receive funny messages.
They receive postcards that jokingly thanked them for financing the production of Bayraktar TB2 vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The text is in Russian and is illustrated with an image of a strike drone.
“Thank you from the people of Ukraine for financing the production of Bayraktar drones. The taxes from your vacation will towards producing Turkish drones, which will be provided to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the postcard states.
Turkish Baykar company will provide Ukraine with four drones, including the Lithuanian one, for free.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the Turkish company’s production plant would soon be focusing on making drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Bayraktar TB2 drone has played a crucial role in defending Ukraine. Prior to Russia’s full-scale war since February 24, Ukraine had about 20 drones, but on June 28 Reznikov said his ministry now has up to 50 drones.
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