KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's defence ministry signed an agreement with Turkish company Baykar Makina to build a service centre for the repair and maintenance of drones in Ukraine, the ministry said on Monday.
Ukraine is seeking to boost domestic production of drones to build an "Army of Drones" in its fight against Russian forces who invaded the country in February 2022.
The ministry's state secretary Kostiantyn Vashchenko was quoted by the ministry website as telling Turkish partners: "The creation of a service centre will be a significant contribution to strengthening Ukraine's defence capabilities and will help bring our victory closer."
Ukrainian producers have sharply increased domestic drone production. More than 10,000 drone operators have been trained with 10,000 more in training, Mykhailo Fedorov, a deputy prime minister in charge of the "Army of Drones" said last week.
Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have used a wide array of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, for reconnaissance and assault purposes during the war.
Ukrainian media reported earlier this month, citing Ukraine's minister of strategic industries Oleksandr Kamyshin, that Baykar has started the construction of a plant to manufacture Bayraktar drones in Ukraine.
This story has been corrected to change attribution to ministry instead of an official in paragraph 1, and fix attribution for quote in paragraph 3)
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Kyiv newsroom; editing by Grant McCool)
