“The Ukrainians have already announced that they have received the Bayraktar Hawk from us!” Arvydas Anusauskas said in a Facebook post on Friday.
The Lithuanian government on Thursday approved the transfer of the Turkish-made Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and 25 air-to-surface missiles to the Ukrainian army, including five to be delivered with the drone, and the remaining 20, valued at 1.5 million euros, to be additionally delivered after they were purchased using funds donated by Lithuania's population to the Laisves TV channel.
The UAV itself was valued at 4.4 million euros and the total donated weaponry – nearly 6.3 million euros.
Lithuania's Ministry of National Defense will sign a contract with the Ukrainian army on the handover of these assets.
Baykar, a Turkish UAV maker, decided to donate the drone after Lithuanians raised 5.9 million euros to buy one and hand it over to Ukraine as the country is fighting the Russian invasion.
As the funds could be used elsewhere, the decision was made to use 1.5 million euros to equip the drone, while the rest was earmarked for other measures to support Ukraine, as decided by the Laisvės TV fundraising campaign.
The drone was named "Vanagas" (hawk in Lithuanian) and was brought from its manufacturers in Turkey to Lithuania last Monday and presented to the public at the Siauliai-based air base on Wednesday.