The Turkish aircraft manufacturing company Baykar Makina (manufacturer of Bayraktars) promised to give Ukraine another Bayraktar TB2 free of charge, for which money was raised in Poland. This was announced on his Facebook page by the author of the fundraising initiative, Polish political scientist and journalist Slavomir Serakovsky.
Serakovsky published a letter from the company saying that the money raised will, as planned, go to support Ukraine.
Earlier, the journalist reported that since June 28, they managed to raise about $5 million (PLN 22.5 million) for Bayraktar for Ukraine. Norway and Canada also launched a fundraising campaign for the purchase of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones for Ukraine.
On May 25, Lithuanian journalist Andrius Tapinas initiated the crowdfunding campaign, saying that he had received consent from the Lithuanian and Turkish defense ministries and the manufacturer. In just three days, they managed to raise €5 million for the purchase of one Bayraktar. After that, the Turkish manufacturer said that he would give Ukraine a drone free of charge, and the funds raised could be used for other needs of the country.
Then, in Ukraine, the fund of Serhiy Prytula also raised funds in three days to purchase three Bayraktars at once. Baykar again decided to donate three drones to Ukraine.
"Bayraktar" is the common name for the drones of the Turkish company Baykar Makina, founded by Özdemir Bayraktar. Now the director and co-owner of the company is one of his sons, Selçuk Bayraktar, who became the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The most famous of the company's drones is the Bayraktar TB2, which is in service with Ukraine. It can stay in the air for up to 24 hours, rise to a height of up to 8.2 km and attack targets from a range of 8 km. In 2018, Ukraine signed an agreement with Turkey on the supply of drones, and during the Russian invasion, it became one of the symbols of the Ukrainian army.