Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with the head of the Turkish defense firm Baykar on Friday and said the company would set up a factory for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine. Baykar’s Bayraktar TB2 drone was very popular in Ukraine, where it helped destroy many Russian artillery systems and armored vehicles.
“We discussed the details of the construction of the Baykar factory in Ukraine and the production of new goods using Ukrainian components,” Zelenskiy said in an online post after a meeting with Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar in Kyiv. A video posted online shows Zelenskiy awarding Bayraktar with the Order of Merit of Ukraine. In return, Zelensky received a traditional embroidered Ukrainian shirt with a drone. Russia has previously complained to Turkey about the sale of drones to Ukraine.
