Ukraine receives more armed drones from Turkey during Russia crisis

Turkish-made UAVs could show Ankara switch in support to Ukraine

A Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 armed drone. Victor Besa / The National

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Turkey sent a shipment of Baykar Bayraktar TB2 armed drones to Ukraine this week, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.

“New [drones] have already arrived in Ukraine and are on combat duty,” Mr Reznikov said.

Janes reported that rumours of the delivery had earlier circulated after Turkish Air Force planes were seen flying from Ankara to an airport in south-east Poland near the Ukraine border.

The drones significantly boosted morale in Ukraine throughout the early days of the crisis, drone warfare expert Samuel Bendett said on Tuesday.

Before the crisis, Ukraine officials said they had about 20 Bayraktar TB2s.

The country also entered deals with Turkey to buy more and ultimately produce key parts for a new, larger Bayraktar drone.

Stijn Mitzer, an intelligence analyst tracking destruction in the war, said the TB2s have taken out 33 Russian vehicles including two logistics trains.

But that is less than 10 per cent of Russia’s total estimated vehicle losses to date, Mr Mitzer said.

Cars are left abandoned on a road as residents flee the town of Irpin, Ukraine after days of heavy shelling. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier helps a family fleeing from Irpin. Reuters

A bus passes the Duke of Wellington statue, which has a traffic cone in the colours of the flag of Ukraine placed on top of it, in Glasgow, Scotland. AP

Ukrainian children sleep at the reception point at the train station in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

Smoke rises as a Ukrainian soldier stands by the only escape route used by locals to flee from the town of Irpin. Reuters

A man flees from Irpin. Reuters

A screengrab from footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry shows a purported Russian tank unit advancement in the Kyiv region. AFP

People walk on debris of residential buildings damaged by shelling in the Zhytomyr region. Reuters

A damaged residential building after Russian multiple rocket launchers shelled the area in the southern city of Mykolaiv. AFP

Ukrainian soldiers sit in their armoured vehicle after fighting against Russian troops and Russia-backed separatists near Zolote village, Luhansk region. AFP

A woman offers accommodation for people fleeing Ukraine at the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

A soldier holds a helmet as a wedding crown during the ceremony for members of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces Lesia Ivashchenko and Valerii Fylymonov, at a checkpoint in Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian soldiers carry a woman fleeing the town of Irpin. AP

A factory and warehouse burn after being bombarded in Irpin. AP

Ukrainian soldiers near Zolote. AFP

A Ukrainian refugee boy, wearing a blanket on his shoulders, warms his hands with a gas heater shortly after crossing the Siret border into northern Romania. EPA

People demonstrate against the Russian military operation in Ukraine in Buenos Aires, Argentina. EPA

First responders work at the scene after a missile hit a building at Havryshivka Vinnytsia International Airport in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Reuters

A woman at a checkpoint on the road to Kyiv after her evacuation from a nearby town. AFP

A placard in the Ukrainian colours is held up at an anti-war demonstration the Bebelplatz square in Berlin, Germany. Reuters

A Ukrainian serviceman helps an elderly woman in Irpin, 20 kilometres north-west of the capital Kyiv. AP Photo

Protesters cry during a demonstration in support of Ukraine at the Plaza Catalunya square in Barcelona. AFP

A man walks past a machine gun at a checkpoint next to the last bridge on the road that connects the town of Stoyanka to the outskirts of Ukraine's capital Kyiv. AFP

Ukrainian servicemen put a wounded man on a stretcher in Irpin. AP Photo

People board a train to return to Ukraine after getting supplies in Zahony, Hungary. AP Photo

Balloons in the colors of Ukraine during a demonstration against the Russian attack on Ukraine, in Mainz, Germany. AP

A Ukrainian girl helps to weave a camouflage net for the Ukrainian army, in Odesa. EPA

Molotov cocktails prepared by a group of volunteers in Odesa. Hundreds are made every day. EPA

Ukrainian servicemen assist people fleeing the town of Irpin after crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by a Russian air strike. AP Photo

A woman holds a dog while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by a Russian airstrike, while assisting people fleeing the town of Irpin, Ukraine. AP Photo

Marina Yatsko and her boyfriend Fedor comfort each other at a hospital in Mariupol after her 18-month-old son Kirill was killed by shelling. AP Photo

Ukrainian civilians receive weapons training in a cinema in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP Photo

Residents flee the town of Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

Ukrainian soldiers carry a sick woman as civilians flee Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, after Russian attacks. AP Photo

Captured Russian soldiers at a press conference in the Interfax news agency in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

Ukrainians beneath a destroyed bridge in Irpin. AP Photo

A woman fleeing Ukraine on a bus near the border crossing in Korczowa, Poland. AP Photo

A Ukrainian soldier and a militia man help a fleeing family on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 5, 2022. AP Photo

Smoke rises after shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol. AP Photo

People at a hospital during shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol. AP Photo

Displaced Ukrainians at the Resurrection New Athos Monastery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP

What Mr Bendett calls the “mythology of the Bayraktar” has persisted because Russia has so far failed to properly use its air defence systems and its air force has apparently failed to neutralise Ukraine’s air force and air defence.

“Russia doesn’t seem to display the very tactics, techniques and procedures that it’s practised for years and sought to perfect in Syria … [to provide] adequate cover to its ground forces,” he said.

“The fact that there may be surviving [Bayraktars] somewhere is an embarrassment [to Russia]."

The delivery is also an indication of a shift in support by Turkey to Ukraine, despite President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s silence on the crisis.

Turkey has also blocked Russian warships from entering the Black Sea to join the fight, in line with an international treaty allowing Ankara to do so during times of war.

Mr Erdogan’s son-in-law and one of Baykar’s top executives, Selcuk Bayraktar, denounced Russia’s “unlawful invasion” in a February 25 tweet.

And Selcuk’s brother Haluk Bayraktar, the company’s chief executive, posted an old photo of himself with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday.

He expressed his support for the defenders: “May the victory go to the brave people who passionately defend their homeland from invaders.”

It is not clear, though, how many drones were in the new delivery, nor whether such deliveries will continue as the war drags on.