Lithuania sent Ukraine Bayraktar, bought with donations from citizens

Lithuania sent a drone to Ukraine Bayraktar TB2, bought through a crowdfunding campaign. Drone Vanagas (“Hawk”), along with ammunition, was delivered to Lithuania on Monday, and soon it will be at the disposal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said.

The fundraising campaign was launched by YouTube channel Laisves TV in June. Viewers were able to collect about 6 million euros. The purchase was organized by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense. However, the manufacturer, having learned that the drone is being bought with donations, gave it away for free.

Previously, the company has already donated its drones to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for free, after Ukrainian activists raised 600 million hryvnias to buy them. The collected funds were left to the volunteers “for other useful and important things,” said Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.

Before the start of the war on February 24, there were about 20 unmanned aerial vehicles in the country. On June 28, Reznikov said that since the beginning of the Russian invasion, his department had managed to arm itself with almost 50 drones.