Ukraine's use of Turkish strike drones in the conflict in the eastern Donbass region is defensive and does not violate any agreements, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday.
Russia accused Ukraine of destabilising the situation after government forces used a Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone to strike a position controlled by Russian-backed separatists this week.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said it had deployed the drone to force pro-Russian separatists to cease fire and the drone had destroyed an artillery unit belonging to the separatists using a guided bomb.
"When the Ukrainian army feels the need to defend its land, it does so," Zelenskiy said, according to comments published on the presidential website.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Matthias Williams; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
