Latvians raise donations for Bayraktar purchase for Ukraine’s army

Raising funds for the purchase of the Bayraktar TB2 drone for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been launched in Latvia.

Estonian Internet portal Delfi reported this.

The initiative was released on Tuesday, August 16. In total, EUR 5 million should be collected for “Latvian Bayraktar”.

Fundraising is conducted on the Ziedot.lv platform.

One of the initiators was the musician Ralfs Eilands: in a video posted on the Internet, he announced that every resident of Latvia has the opportunity to prove his support for Ukraine and also, with the help of Ukrainians, “to say hello to the Russian invaders.”

Latvia is not the first country whose citizens have decided to express their support for Ukraine by collecting donations for the Bayraktar TB2 drone, produced by the Turkish company Baykar.

Similar actions have already been held in Poland, Lithuania, Norway, and Canada.

The Bayraktar TB2 is a Turkish-made medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle. It is made by the Turkish company, Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.

As previously reported, the Ukrainian Air Force received two Mi-17 and two Mi-2 helicopters from Latvia. The Ministry of Defense of Latvia stated that the support of Ukraine by Western countries should not stop.

Before delivery, the aircraft were painted, and one of the Mi-17s was overhauled.

Latvia is one of the countries that provided the most significant assistance to Ukraine if comparing the aid volume with the country’s GDP.

Latvia provided weapons and individual equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, dry rations, ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and man-portable air-defense systems worth more than €200 million.