Zelenskyy aide deletes photo with Turkey's drone company manager at bar

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Mikhail Podolyak, a presiential official from Ukraine who leads the country's negotiations with Russia in İstanbul, shared a photo with Haluk Bayraktar, the general manager of the Baykar Defense company at a bar.

He later deleted the photo and posted another one with İstanbul's Historical Peninsula in the background.

Both the posts had the same caption: "Russia's armored vehicles are burning flawlessly in our beautiful fields. And they'll continue to burn, as Bayraktars ideally fulfill any task - imperceptibly, frighteningly, destructively. I'll always be grateful to the author & father of super-weapons. For our victory"

Some Twitter users spotted that the two photos were taken in the same place, with the first one in a restaurant at Galataport on the shores of Karaköy. People questioned whether Podolyak had to delete the photo due to the Bayraktar family's conservative background and close ties to Turkey's president.

The Bayraktar drones produced by Baykar Defense have become popular in Ukraine due to their role in the war against Russia, with some people naming their pets Bayraktar and a song made about the drones.

RF armored vehicles are burning flawlessly in our beautiful fields. And they'll continue to burn, as Bayraktars ideally fulfill any task - imperceptibly, frighteningly, destructively. I'll always be grateful to the author & father of super-weapons @haluk. For our victory pic.twitter.com/R81GbuGztf

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 29, 2022

(HA/VK)