MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. Ukrainian troops are facing problems with the use of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones in the zone of the special military operation, Colonel Vladimir Valyukh of the Ukrainian defense ministry’s main intelligence directorate said on Tuesday.

"For the TB2, I don’t want to use the word useless, but it is hard to find situations where to use them," he told the US’ Defense News. He noted however that these drones are still used but "the deployment frequency and roles for those drone types had changed." In his words, this is because of the enhanced efficiency of Russian air and electronic defense systems.

Meanwhile, Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of the drones manufacturer, said that "not seeing any videos" in no way means that they are not used. "This is a challenging environment to operate in," he noted.

He said earlier that his company planned to complete the construction of a drone production plant in Ukraine in 18 months. His company would invest around $100 million in the project. Construction works reportedly kicked off in August 2022. Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasily Bondar said back then that the construction would take several months and the plant would be commissioned by the end of 2023. However, he said later that the original plans had been adjusted due to combat operations.