Dramatic footage shared by the Ukrainian military showing a Turkish-made TB2 drone destroying a Russian armored vehicle went viral on social media on Sunday.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Lieutenant General Valerii Zaluzhnyi shared a video of the showdown that took place in the city of Kherson on his official Facebook account on Sunday, accompanied by the caption: “What the life-giving Bayraktar does! Welcome to hell!”
The Ukrainian Armed Forces purchased Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and ground control stations from Turkey in 2019, and President Zelensky said the newly signed defense agreements will expand production of drones by Turkish defense firm Baykar in Ukraine.
The Bayraktar TB2 has been sold to countries including Ukraine, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Poland. Last May, Poland became the first European Union and NATO member state to acquire drones from Turkey.
Ukraine and Russia have been locked in conflict since hostilities in the eastern Donbas region broke out in 2014 after Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday, days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine.
He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy its neighbor, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.
In response, Western powers imposed financial sanctions on Moscow, and announced military and humanitarian support for Kyiv.
