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Two Russian missiles struck the Turkish drone maker Baykar's drone factory in Kyiv early Thursday, causing severe damage to production facilities in the fourth attack on the plant in six months, according to a Ukrainian city council member.
Igor Zinkevich, a member of the Lviv City Council, announced that the Baykar facility built in Ukraine was hit during Russia's latest strikes on the country in a social media statement on Telegram.
"Last night, the well-known Bayraktar factory in Kyiv was struck. Two hits were recorded—production facilities suffered serious damage," Zinkevich said.
"Despite the war and previous attacks, the company continued to invest tens of millions of its own funds, train staff, and prepare production," he noted.
"Most of the facilities were almost ready, and the main staff had completed training. And this is already the fourth strike on the factory in the last six months," he added.
Russia had stated that military facilities, including drone production, were being targeted in the attacks.
Baykar General Manager Haluk Bayraktar recently provided updates on the planned Baykar factory in Ukraine.
The company first announced plans for a Bayraktar TB2 factory in October 2022, after donating and delivering millions of dollars' worth of drones to Ukrainian forces since the war began on Feb. 24, 2022.
In a statement to Defense News in 2023, Bayraktar said that construction work by Baykar's local subsidiary, LLC Avia Ventures, was progressing toward a planned 2025 opening date.
"LLC Avia Ventures was first registered in Kyiv in 2019 and received a license for import-export of military products in early last year. So far in the country, they are the first and only companies that have a foreign founder and a defense systems license in their structure," Bayraktar said.
"A large part of the preparatory work is already being carried out, and electricity is expected to be supplied to the facility in July," he added.
Through its local establishment, Baykar will make further investments in Ukraine by establishing a center of excellence in drone technologies that includes technology transfer to localize the production of the company's unmanned aerial vehicles.
"We have obtained appropriate license permits from Türkiye to fully produce Baykar's TB2 and Akinci unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine," Bayraktar said.
The total investment planned for the construction of these facilities is $95.5 million.
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