Lithuania’s Chief of Defence Valdemaras Rupšys has welcomed the campaign by journalist Andrius Tapinas to buy a Turkish-made Bayraktar combat drone for Ukrainian troops, adding that the Lithuanian military plans to contribute to its acquisition.
“Of course, it is not easy for Tapinas alone to do this. [...] As far as I know, the defence minister is willing, together with Tapinas, to implement this project. Perhaps, the military will get involved to some extent,” the commander told LRT RADIO on Friday.
Tapinas hopes to raise 5 million euros to buy the combat drone.
Read more: Lithuanian influencer launches €5m crowdfunding to gift Bayraktar drone to Ukraine
Ukraine has been fighting the invading Russian forces for more than three months, but is facing a shortage of weapons and is calling on Western countries to provide more military aid.
According to Lieutenant General Rupšys, Lithuania continues to assist Ukraine by providing arms to the best of its ability.
“After a meeting between the [Lithuanian] defence minister and the Ukrainian minister of defence, we have decided to hand over more than 20 M113 armoured personnel carriers to the Ukrainian army, which are very much needed. We are also discussing and coordinating other options to help them with necessary equipment. We are also discussing how we can contribute to training [Ukrainian troops] to use new weapons,” he told LRT RADIO.
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