Construction has started in Ukraine on a manufacturing plant for a drone which has proved crucial in Kyiv's fight against Russian aggression.
The country's strategic industries minister Oleksandr Kamyshin told Ukrainian television on Monday that work on the plant to produce the Turkish-designed Bayraktar TB2 had started although he did not specify where.
"The plant began to be built in practice, and not just on a memorandum," he said. The construction had been agreed up "several years ago" but had been delayed by "shutdowns and scandals," he added, according to Ukraine's Channel 24.
In January 2023, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasily Bodnar had said that the plant should start working within the next two years.
There were reportedly plans to start work on the plant in October 2022, but momentum for the project grew following a deal signed between Ankara and Kyiv in February this year to cooperate in the high-tech, aviation and space industries.
Channel 24 reported that the site would produce drones which "will have Ukrainian components." Newsweek has emailed the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment.
The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drone made by the Turkish company Baykar, primarily for the Turkish armed forces. Roughly the size of a small plane, it has cameras and can be armed with laser-guided bombs.
Able to conduct intelligence, reconnaissance and armed missions, the drones can fly up to 138 miles per hour and carry a payload size of up to 330 pounds.
The drone has been used to inflict damage on Russian targets and was used in the attack that sank the Russian warship Moskva in the Black Sea in April 2022.
Iran has supplied Moscow with Shaheed-129 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also known as "suicide drones" which have been used to swarm Ukrainian air space and hit civilian and infrastructure targets.
Iranian drones are said to have a long range and high payload but the Bayraktar drone is faster and can travel longer—up to 27 hours, or three hours longer, than the Shahed-129.
Moscow has blamed Kyiv for a series of recent drone attacks, including on the Kremlin in May and in towns near Russia's border with Ukraine.
Later that month, the Kremlin said it would take the "harshest possible measures" after it said eight drones targeted Moscow. Claims of Ukrainian drones being used on targets within Russia are also frequently made by pro-war military bloggers.
Ukrainian officials recently shared a video showing a stockpiled "drone army" with Ukrainian minister Mykhailo Fedorov describing how drones provide a "competitive advantage" over Russian forces.
