Russia Clarifying Information About Use of Turkish Drones by Ukraine in Donbass, Lavrov Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia is clarifying information about Ukraine's use of Turkish drones in the breakaway eastern region of Donbass, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"As for the reports on the use of the Bayraktar drone by the Ukrainian armed forces in Donbass, we are now double-checking this information", Lavrov told reporters.

The minister suggested the reports were related to the situation in the village of Staromarivka, where the Ukrainian military had carried out "a provocation" the day before.

"They were rebuffed, as we understand it", Lavrov added.

Despite leaving no casualties, according to preliminary assessments, the purported use of Turkish drones in east Ukraine should give food for thought about developments in the region, Lavrov said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

© Sputnik / Ekaterina Chesnokova

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"This story should certainly make all those who indulge Ukraine's capricious demands that it should be admitted to NATO tomorrow think twice. As well as those who arm the neo-Nazi-controlled Kiev regime", he noted.

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian military shared a video capturing the first tactical use of Turkey's Bayraktar combat drones in Donbass.

Ukraine has been waging war against the eastern regions since 2014 when Donetsk and Lugansk proclaimed their independence following a violent coup d'etat in Kiev.