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The Turkish-made Bayraktar drone that was shot down over Lugansk People’s Republic is exhibited at the Army-2022 event, Moscow, August 18, 2022. Photo/Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov
KIEV – Drone Bayraktar Turki been touted as a miracle weapon, with Ukrainian officials saying the UAVs would give them an advantage against Russia.
“However, one year later, only a few drone units remain that are used away from the battlefield, and for reconnaissance rather than strike missions,” a think tank analyst at the Pentagon told Business Insider.
Ukraine bought dozens of Bayraktar TB2 drones and used them to strike Donbass in violation of a ceasefire agreement at least once, even before the conflict with Russia began last February.
Kiev also claims to have received an unspecified number of additional drones over the past year, despite Turkey’s official neutrality in the conflict.
In the first months of the conflict, Kiev routinely claimed to have carried out successful attacks using TB2.
“But by July, the Bayraktar had become nearly useless, and Kiev reserved it for rare special operations,” the Ukrainian pilot told Foreign Policy at the time.
“Russian troops destroyed more than 100 Bayraktar drones in Ukraine,” Deputy Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Andrey Demin said in April.
“As of now, Ukraine’s once-valuable fleet of drones has been almost entirely shot down,” wrote Business Insider on Sunday (28/5/2023).
The report cites an expert in unmanned military systems and robotics at the Naval Analysis Center, Samuel Bendett.
