Russia: Ukraine asked Baykar to equip drones with chemical sprays

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Senior Russian military official, Igor Kirillov, revealed Saturday that Kiev asked Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar to add the option of equipping their drones with a chemical spraying device with a capacity that exceeds 20 liters.

Kirillov said: "we have a confirmation of Ukraine's request to the Turkish manufacturer of Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles dated December 15, 2021, about the possibility of equipping this UAV with aerosol spraying systems and mechanisms with a capacity of more than 20 liters."

The senior Russian official, who is in charge of the Russian Armed Forces’ radiological, chemical and biological defense, considered that Ukraine's interest in supplies of drones equipped with technical means of delivery and use of biological weapons is a concern. 

Turkish Bayraktar drones factory is being built in Ukraine

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated Wednesday that Kiev and Ankara were still working in late June on a scheme to build a plant in Ukraine to manufacture Bayraktar armed drones.

In early August, Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine's Ambassador to Turkey, said that a Baykar factory, the Turkish company which produces the Bayraktar attack drones, is underway in Ukraine.

Bodnar said that "the factory will be built. Just a week ago, the government approved the bilateral agreement and sent it to the parliament for ratification, the agreement on the construction of the plant itself."

A piece of land has already been purchased and developed by the company where Baykar sought to build the factory, as "it was almost a personal commitment of the company owners to make this production in Ukraine," said Bodnar.

The diplomat also indicated that the decision to develop the factory in Ukraine was not only a political decision, "but also practical since a significant part of the models that will be produced at this plant will have components of Ukrainian production."

He added that "it can be engines, other spare parts, wheels, many different things that are high-tech in our country and could be used for these aircraft."

It is noteworthy that before the introduction of the American HIMARS, the Bayraktar TB2 drones were without a doubt one of Ukraine's most prized weapons during the early stages of the war.

According to Bodnar, the Turkish drones have already become "a legend of our resistance." The Middle East Eye reported that Ukraine possessed around 20 drones made by Baykar before the war started. Kiev purchased the drones from the firm two years prior to the war.

Oleksii Reznikov, the Ukrainian Defense Minister, claimed that since the war began on February 24, Kiev has received 50 combat drones from Baykar.