Lithuania has signed a contract with Turkey to purchase the Bayraktar drone for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This was announced by Arvydas Anušauskas, Minister of National Defense on Twitter.

Lithuanian citizens have joined forces to buy an unmanned combat aerial vehicle for Ukraine in honor of its fight against Russian aggression.

Today, the Lithuanian Minister of Defense announced the agreement to purchase the drone being signed.

Agreement was signed in ?? today with the President of the Turkish Defense Agency prof. Ismail Demir on cooperation with the Ministry of National Defense of ??. ❗️This agreement paves the way for the purchase of #Bayraktar, for which Lithuanians raised almost 6 mln. € in 3 days! pic.twitter.com/7P3sFfoxmK

— Arvydas Anušauskas (@a_anusauskas) June 1, 2022

“Agreement was signed in Turkey today with prof. Ismail Demir, President of the Turkish Defense Agency on cooperation with the Ministry of National Defense of Lithuania. This agreement paves the way for the purchase of the Bayraktar,” Anušauskas wrote.

According to him, Lithuanian citizens raised almost €6 million in three days to purchase the Bayraktar TB2 combat drone for the Ukrainian army.

This is the first time in history when regular people have raised money to buy a drone to defend another country.

The campaign was initiated by the Lithuanian resident Andrews Tapinas.

He launched the campaign on May 25, saying he made agreements on a potential purchase with the Ministries of Defense of Lithuania, Turkey, and the manufacturer.

Over €5 million was raised in just three and a half days — largely in small amounts.

The Bayraktar TB2 is a Turkish-made medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle.

The first batch of the Bayraktar TB2 system was ordered by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in November 2018, and in March 2019, the UAV arrived in Ukraine and conducted demonstration flights. Last year, the Ukrainian Navy Forces received the first Bayraktar TB2 UAV system.