Lithuanians collect €5 million, crowdfunding a Bayraktar drone for Ukraine
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By Euronews with Reuters
A Bayraktar TB2 drone is displayed during a rehearsal of a military parade dedicated to Independence Day in Kyiv on 20 August 2021
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AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Hundreds of Lithuanians have chipped in together to buy an advanced military drone for Ukraine in its war against Russia in a show of solidarity with a fellow former Soviet Union country.
The target of €5 million was raised in just three and a half days — largely in small amounts between €5 and €100 — to fund the purchase of a Byraktar TB2 military drone, according to Laisves TV, the Lithuanian internet broadcaster that launched the drive.
"Before this war started, none of us thought that we would be buying guns. But it's a normal thing now. Something must be done for the world to get better," said Agne Belickaite, 32, who sent €100 as soon as the fundraising launched on Wednesday.
Russia attacks Ukraine
People stand near a destroyed building on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine. May 10, 2022
An Ukrainian firefighter works near a destroyed building on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine. May 10, 2022
Destroyed Russian military vehicles lie in a garbage dump in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. May 10, 2022
The last tribute to volunteer soldier Oleksandr Makhov, 36, a well-known Ukrainian journalist, killed by Russian troops, during his funeral at St Michael cathedral.
The Grande Pettiness Hotel is ruined by the Russian missile in Odesa, Ukraine. May 8, 2022
An arial view of the destroyed Hotel Ukraine in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. May 3, 2022
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Plywood and plastic sheeting replaces panes of glass shettered during shelling in Dobropillia, eastern Ukraine on May 4, 2022
Women walk past a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. May 2, 2022
Firefighters extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a park in Kharkiv, Ukraine. May 3, 2022
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People pay their respect during the funeral ceremony for Ukrainian serviceman Ruslan Borovyk killed by the Russian troops in a battle in St Michael cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine
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Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine. May 4, 2022
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A family walks amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. April 6, 2022
A monument to Taras Shevchenko, a Ukrainian poet and a national symbol, in seen against the background of an apartment house ruined in the Russian shelling in Borodyanka
An elderly woman walks by an apartment building destroyed in the Russian shelling in Borodyanka, near Kyiv, Ukraine. April 6, 2022
Field engineers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine stand next to a destroyed Russian armoured vehicle during mine clearing operations on a street of Bucha near Kyiv.
Debris of destroyed armoured vehicles is seen on a street in the town of Bucha, on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on April 5, 2022
A woman with a dog sits on a self-made bed in the basement of a building, partially destroyed after shelling on the outskirts of Kharkiv. April 5, 2022
An elderly woman sleeps on the basement floor of a building, partially destroyed after shelling, in the outskirts of Kharkiv. April 5, 2022
People look for personal belongings in the rubble of an apartment building destroyed in Borodyanka, Ukraine. Aprii 2022
Journalists report next to a mass grave in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. April 5, 2022
In the courtyard of their house, Vlad Tanyuk, 6, stands near the grave of his mother Irina Tanyuk, who died because of starvation and stress in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine
Crosses to honour civilians killed in Irpin mark a mass grave in the forest nearby, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine
A view inside of the Mariupol theatre damaged during the attack on Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. April 2022
A view inside of the Mariupol theatre damaged during the attack on Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. April 2022
A Ukrainian serviceman touches the nose of an Antonov An-225 Mriya aircraft destroyed by Russian forces at the Antonov airport in Hostomel, Ukraine. April 2022
A man walks with his dog near an apartment building damaged by shelling from fighting on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine. March 29, 2022
A local resident passes his bicycle in front of damaged buildings and a tank in the town of Trostsyanets, 400 km east of capital Kyiv, Ukraine. March 28, 2022
The regional government headquarters in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, following a Russian attack. March 29, 2022
Halyna Falko, 52, talks to reporters while looking at the destruction caused by a Russian attack inside her house near Brovary, the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine
Flag of Ukraine on the ruins of a school in Kharkiv. March 23, 2022
An injured dog from Ukraine is seen at the ADA foundation centre for animals in Przemysl, southeatern Poland, March 28, 2022
Destroyed school building in Kharkov, Ukraine. March 23, 2022
A picture taken on March 23, 2022 shows the damage in a classroom at a school which has been hit by a Russian air bomb in Kharkiv.
A Ukrainian firefighter tries to extinguishing a fire inside a house destroyed by shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine. March 23, 2022
Municipal workers finish covering a statue of Italian poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri with sandbags to protect it from potential damage from shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine
The tail of a rocket sticks out in a memorial for the thousands of Polish officers killed in 1940 by Soviet secret police in the Katyn massacre, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. March 23
Rescuers work at the site of the National Academy of State Administration building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 18, 2022
Firefighters extinguish a fire near a shopping center after shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine. March 21, 2022
Local residents retrieve what is left in their destroyed apartments, located in a five-storey residential building that partially collapsed after shelling.
A woman walking in a street is visible through a roof of a building hit by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. March 20, 2022
A member of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces stands guard at a checkpoint in Kyiv on March 20, 2022, as Russian forces try to encircle the Ukrainian capital.
A mother embraces her son who escaped the besieged city of Mariupol and arrived at the train station in Lviv, western Ukraine on Sunday. March 20, 2022
A mother nurses her child as she cries after a residential building was hit by debris from a downed rocket in Kyiv. March 20, 2022
Hospital staff sit in a basement, used as a bomb shelter, during an air raid alarm in Brovary, north of Kyiv, Ukraine. March 17, 2022
A damaged military vehicle sits in Kharkiv, Ukraine. March 16, 2022
Damaged vehicles sit among debris and in Kharkiv city center in Ukraine. March 16, 2022
A woman is evacuated from a burning apartment building in Kyiv. March 15, 2022
People hug outside a damaged apartment building in Kyiv after strikes on residential areas killed at least two people. March 15, 2022
People attend a funeral ceremony for four of the Ukrainian military servicemen, who were killed during an airstrike in a military base in Yarokiv, in a church in Lviv, Ukraine
Firefighters work in an apartment building damaged by shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine. March 15, 2022
A firefighter walks outside a destroyed apartment building after a bombing in a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Volunteers sew Ukrainian flags and first aid kits at a workshop in Lviv, western Ukraine. March 14, 2022
Ukrainian soldier passes at a destroyed trolleybus and taxi after a Russian bombing attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 14, 2022
An elderly resident waits to be rescued by Ukrainian firefighters after bombing in an apartment building in Kyiv, Ukraine. March 15, 2022
A local resident searches for his belongings in an apartment building after it was hit by artillery shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine. March 14, 2022
A view of destroyed apartments damaged by shelling, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. March 13, 2022
Two elderly woman lit by a candle hide in a basement used as a bomb shelter in Irpin, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. March 13, 2022
A woman holds her child inside a subway wagon in an underground metro station used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv. March 13, 2022
A resident carries belongings out of an apartment building heavily damaged after a Russian rocket exploded just outside it in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv. March 13, 2022
A makeshift kitchen in an underground metro station used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv. March 13, 2022
Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine. March 9, 2022
A man rides a bicycle in front of a damaged by shelling apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine. March 9, 2022
Ukrainian soldiers and emergency employees work at the side of the damaged by shelling maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine. March 9, 2022.
A Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces member hugs a resident who leaves his home town following Russian artillery shelling in Irpin, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. March 9, 2022
Ukrainian civilians receive weapons training, in the outskirts of Lviv, western Ukraine. March 7, 2022
An elderly woman is coated in snow as she sits in a wheelchair after being evacuated from Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. March 8, 2022
A volunteer holds a tray of dumplings for the defenders of Ukraine in Drohobych.
A Ukrainian police officer helps people as artillery echoes nearby while fleeing Irpin in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. March 7, 2022
A woman holds a dog while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by a Russian airstrike. Irpin, Ukraine. March 5, 2022
A firefighter holds the baby of a refugee fleeing the conflict from neighbouring Ukraine at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania. March 7, 2022
A man carries a woman as they cross an improvised path while fleeing the town of Irpin, Ukraine. March 6, 2022
This general view shows destroyed Russian armored vehicles in the city of Bucha, west of Kyiv. March 4, 2022.
A factory and a store are burning after been bombarded in Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. March 6, 2022
Local residents walk in front of residential buildings damaged in yesterday's shelling in the city of Chernihiv. March 4, 2022
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A man removes personal belongings from a burning house after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv. March 4, 2022
The wreckage of a cluster bomb after a shelling on a street in Kharkiv, Ukraine. February 4, 2022
A man stands in front of a residential building damaged in yesterday's shelling in the city of Chernihiv on March 4, 2022.
Consequences of the shelling of a school in Zhytomyr, Ukraine
The school was destroyed after the rocket attack in Zhytomyr, Ukraine
Consequences of the shelling of a school in Zhytomyr, Ukraine
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a damaged city centre after a Russian air raid in Chernihiv, Ukraine. March 3, 2022
Stanislav, 40, says goodbye to his son David, 2, and his wife Anna, 35, on a train to Lviv at the Kyiv station, Ukraine. March 3. 2022
Refugees warm up around a bonfire outside the Lviv train station, western Ukraine, on March 03, 2022
An Ukrainian soldier hugs his partner next to a military base where residents are queuing to join the army, in Lviv. March 2, 2022
Firefighters extinguishes a burning building after bombing in Kyiv, Ukraine. March 3, 2022
A woman with her soon look at a train leaving as they try to flee at the Kyiv station, Ukraine. March 3. 2022
French teacher Petro Vyerko, 81, holds a rifle in his house which was damaged by the shock waves of a Russian airstrike in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine.
A fighter of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces stands guard at anti-tank constructions on the position at Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine. March 2, 2022
Firefighters extinguishing a fire in the Kharkiv regional police department building, which is said was hit by recent shelling, Ukraine. March 2, 2022
The view of military facility which was destroyed by recent shelling in the city of Brovary outside Kyiv, Ukraine. March 1, 2022
Members of an Ukrainian civil defense unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown up bridge on Kyiv’s northern front. March 1, 2022.
A couple sit in an underground metro station used as bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine. March 2, 2022.
The view of military facility which was destroyed by recent shelling in the city of Brovary outside Kyiv. March 1, 2022
The smoke after a missile attack targeting the Ukrainian capital's television tower in Kyiv. March 1, 2022
A view of the central square following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. March 1, 2022
A medical worker attends to a wounded man at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. March 1, 2022
Damaged cars and a destroyed accommodation building are seen near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. March 1, 2022.
A woman takes photos of a destroyed accommodation building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine
Ukrainian volunteers tear cloth into strips to make camouflage nets in Lviv, western Ukraine. February 28, 2022
A woman sits with two babies being treated at a paediatrics hospital after they were moved to the basement of the building which is being used as a bomb shelter, in Kyiv
Ukrainians and foreign residents wait for trains inside Lviv railway station, western Ukraine. February 28, 2022
Hanna Lukasz, from Mirhord, cries after her 12 and 8 y.o. sons and her 66 y.o. mother have been waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border for 4 days to cross to Poland
A Ukrainian woman reacts after arriving at the Medyka border crossing, in Poland. February 27, 2022
A woman and her children lie on the floor in the improvised bomb shelter in a sports center, which can accommodate up to 2000 people, in Mariupol, Ukraine. February 27, 2022
A couple embrace prior to the woman boarding a train carriage leaving for western Ukraine, at the railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. February 27, 2022
Thousands of people gathered in Lyon to show support for Ukraine. Lyon's Mayor Gregory Doucet was participating too, he has previously announced plans to welcome refugees.
Cars are stopped at a roadblock set by civil defensemen at a road leading to central Kyiv, Ukraine
Members of civil defense prepare Molotov cocktails in a yard in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 27, 2022
Smoke rises from a Russian tank destroyed by the Ukrainian forces on the side of a road in Lugansk region on February 26, 2022
A woman holds her sleeping child while sitting on the ground at Lviv central train station in Western Ukraine. February 26, 2022
People gather to catch a train and leave Ukraine for neighboring countries at the railway station in Lviv,western Ukraine. February 26, 2022
A couple and their dogs sit in a hotel underground parking turned into a bomb shelter during an air raid alert in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 27, 2022
Ukranian refugees cry as they reunite at the Medyka border crossing, Poland. February 26, 2022
A shirt with the stains of blood is seen on the street of Kyiv after Russia invades Ukraine. February 26, 2022
An apartment building damaged following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine. Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine's capital. February 26, 2022
A woman cries looking at her apartment building damaged following a rocket attack, in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 26, 2022
An apartment building damaged following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine. Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine's capital. February 26, 2022
Civil defense personnel man a checkpoint in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 26, 2022
A Ukrainian soldier walks past debris of a burning military truck, on a street in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 26, 2022
A civil defense man stands guard at a checkpoint in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 26, 2022
A family sit in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv. In Ukraine's capital, many residents hurried underground for safety overnight. February 25, 2022
People fleeing the conflict from neighboring Ukraine meet with members of their family at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland. February 25, 2022
An illuminated window on a residential building with the rest of the lighting turned off for safety reasons, in the city of Kyiv. February 25, 2022
A refugee who fled the war from neighboring Ukraine rests in a school building in Przemysl, Poland. February 26, 2022. Petr David Josek/ AP Photo
People sleep in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 25, 2022
Kyiv resident Natalia Sevriukova cries next to her house following a rocket attack of Kyiv, Ukraine. February 25, 2022
People look at the damage following Russia's rocket attack on Kyiv, Ukraine. February 25, 2022
A Ukrainian Army soldier inspects fragments of a downed aircraft in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 25, 2022
Blood from the body of a serviceman colours the snow next to a destroyed Russian military multiple rocket launcher vehicle on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine. February 25
View of a building damaged following a rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 25, 2022
A woman clears debris at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit. February 25, 2022
Ukrainian soldiers take positions in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine. February 2022
A woman weeps in her car after crossing the border from Ukraine at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania. February 25, 2022
A Ukrainian firefighter walks between at fragments of a downed aircraft seen in in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 25, 2022.
A man sits outside his destroyed building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv as Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine from several directions. February 24,
People walk past the body of a relative outside a destroyed building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv, Ukraine. February 24, 2022
Firefighters work on a fire on a building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv. February 24, 2022
Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv, Ukraine. February 24, 2022
People stand behind the cordoned off area around the remains of a shell in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 24, 2022
Emergencies personnel work at the crash site of a Ukrainian military plane south of Kyiv, Ukraine. February 24, 2022
Smoke and flame rise near a military building after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 24, 2022
A woman with her daughter waits for a train as they try to leave Kyiv, Ukraine after Russia invaded Ukraine. February 24, 2022
Traffic jam as people leave the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, as Russia invades the country. February 24, 2022
People line up to withdraw money at a cash dispenser in Kyiv, Ukraine, in the morning of February 24, 2022
People take shelter in a metro station in Kyiv, Ukraine, after Russia invaded the country in the morning of February 24, 2022
Ukrainian military vehicles move past Independence square in central Kyiv, Ukraine. February 24, 2022
Damaged radar arrays and other equipment is seen at Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine. February 24, 2022
Damaged radar, a vehicle and equipment are seen at a Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine. February 24, 2022
A woman and child peer out of the window of a bus as they leave Sievierodonetsk, the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine. February 24, 2022
The body of a rocket stuck in a flat after recent shelling on the northern outskirts of Kharkiv on February 24, 2022.
Tetyana Tomenko, a local resident, cries standing in front of her damaged house after shelling by in Novognativka, eastern Ukraine. February 2022
Smoke billows from a power and heating plant after it was shelled in Shchastya, in the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine. February 22, 2022
"I've been donating to buy guns for Ukraine for a while now. And will do so until the victory," she told Reuters, adding she was motivated in part by fears Russia could attack Lithuania.
The drone has proven effective in recent years against Russian forces and their allies in conflicts in Syria and Libya, and its purchase is being orchestrated by Lithuania's Ministry of Defence, which plans to sign a letter of intent to buy the craft from Turkey next week.
Ukraine has bought more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 armed drones from Turkish company Baykar in recent years and ordered a further 16 on 27 January. That batch was delivered in early March.
"This is the first case in history when ordinary people raise money to buy something like a Bayraktar. It is unprecedented, it is unbelievable," Beshta Petro, Ukraine's ambassador to Lithuania, told Laisves TV.
Most of the heavy weapons that NATO countries have sent to Ukraine so far are Soviet-built arms still in the inventories of eastern European NATO member states, but some have recently started to supply Western howitzers.
"While governments of the world's largest countries are endlessly deliberating ... Lithuanian society simply comes together and, you know, is about to fundraise €5m and buy the drone - which is an impressive message to the world," said Belickaite.