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Ukraine Angers Russia by Buying Turkish Drones and Wants To Get Its Hands On More

The drone tensions come as Russian President Vladimir Putin again builds up troops near Ukraine’s border.

The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone. — The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone.
Photographer: Birol Bebek/AFP

By

Selcan Hacaoglu and

December 3, 2021, 6:27 PM UTC

Turkey has sold Ukraine significantly more of the armed drones that drew a rebuke from Russia than previously disclosed, with further deals in the pipeline.

The Bayraktar TB2 drones, fired for the first time in October to destroy mobile artillery in Ukraine’s breakaway Donbas region, are prized items in a budding relationship that’s made Turkey one of Kyiv’s most important backers.