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Ukrainian army’s Bayraktar drone patrolling Black Sea waters — media

It is noted that the Bayraktar drone flew over Ochakovo in the Nikolayev Region to reach almost Zmeiniy Island in the Black Sea and is now patrolling Ukraine’s maritime border

KIEV, January 20. /TASS/. A Turkish-made Bayraktar drone belonging to the Ukrainian army is patrolling the Black Sea, Ukraine’s Dumskaya web portal reported on Thursday.

"At about 8 hours in the morning (9:00 Moscow time), the drone took off from Kulbakino Air Force base [a large military aerodrome on the southeastern outskirts of the city of Nikolayev] where the 10th (Sakskaya) Ukrainian naval aviation brigade is stationed," the statement says.

According to the media outlet, the Bayraktar drone flew over Ochakovo in the Nikolayev Region to reach almost Zmeiniy Island in the Black Sea and is now patrolling Ukraine’s maritime border.

"The flight is proceeding at an altitude of over 5 km," the web portal specified.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed on October 26 that the military had employed a Turkish Bayraktar combat drone in the Donbass area for the first time. Ukrainian Joint Force Commander Lieutenant-General Sergey Nayev claimed that Bayraktar strike drones always took to the skies with an ammunition load for their employment "where a reinforcement is necessary."

Russia’s Permanent Representative at the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Alexander Lukashevich said at a meeting of the organization’s Permanent Council in Vienna that the use of such aircraft was prohibited by the Minsk Accords and also by an Additional Package of Ceasefire Control Measures agreed in July 2020. The German and French foreign ministries expressed their concern over the reports of the use of Bayraktar drones by the Ukrainian army.

The Bayraktar TB2 is a Turkish-made strike drone with a 150 km-range capability, an operating speed of 130 km/h and a 50 kg payload. It is furnished with an automatic take-off and landing system.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced on December 14, 2020 that it had signed a deal with Turkey on the production of corvettes and strike drones for the Ukrainian army. In 2019, Kiev purchased and tested Bayraktar drones that are intended to be furnished with MAM-L precision air bombs produced by the Turkish company Roketsan.

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