Putin Concerned About Bayraktar UAVs as Turkey Exploits Russian President's Statement

During a meeting with defense officials on November 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement regarding UAVs was widely circulated in Turkish media and has become a subject of speculation for the Turkish propaganda machine.

During the meeting, while discussing the fight against UAVs, President Putin specifically noted: “We know very well how UAVs have manifested themselves in recent years of armed conflicts, how effective and how dangerous they can be for us, considering what we saw in Syria during terrorist attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles. We have learned to repel these attacks and are doing it quite effectively,” said Putin. He also mentioned that the Russian military currently has more than 2,000 unmanned aerial vehicles in its inventory.

Several pro-government and opposition Turkish media outlets pointed out that Putin made such a statement following the use of Turkish strike UAVs in Donbas, adding that the success of Turkish UAVs in Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria, and Libya has compelled Russia to pay greater attention to the production of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Notably, the Turkish propaganda machine, while concealing its unease regarding Putin's statements, insists that “the successes of Turkish UAVs have frightened Putin.”