Has Putin met his match? The strongman who makes his life miserable in Ukraine while maintaining their bromance

Inspired by the war in Ukraine, it took Taras Borovok two hours to come up with the words and compose a catchy melody somewhere between a folk song and television jingle.

Sung over pulsing keys and a playful fiddle, the song’s lyrics poke fun at the invading Russian forces — their stupidity, gluttony, and the pointlessness of their mission.

A retired Ukrainian military officer himself, Borovok wanted to create something that would boost morale among troops on the front line, he told a Turkish newspaper in March.

The song, released along with a music video showing Ukrainian soldiers grinning and swaying to the beat in front of destroyed Russian tanks, quickly became a wartime anthem.

“The Kremlin freak is pushing out propaganda, his words are being swallowed by the people, now their tsar knows a new word,” the soldiers in the clip sing.

“Bayraktar, Bayraktar!”

Bayraktar is not some Ukrainian folk hero, but the Bayraktar TB2 — an unmanned combat drone developed and manufactured by Turkish company Baykar Technology.

The grey unmanned aerial vehicle carries laser-guided bombs and is light, cheap and supremely deadly.

Especially in the early stages of the war, it was instrumental in changing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fortunes in Ukraine, and it’s expected to change the nature of warfare for years to come.

The Turkish drone that changed the game 

From the early days of Russia’s invasion, the TB2 became an icon of Ukrainian resistance and stood out from the mostly Soviet-built arms and heavy weapons supplied by NATO countries.

It has also turned its designer, Selçuk Bayraktar, who happens to be married to the daughter of Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, into a household name.

“The TB2, at least at the outset of the war, seemed to capture the hearts and minds of the Ukrainians,” Dan Gettinger, a Washington-based drone proliferation expert, said.

“That is the way that the TB2 has been used in other conflicts as well: a symbol of the country’s technological prowess.”

The TB2 has also become a flagship of Türkiye’s booming drone industry, which has expanded tenfold in the last two decades.

Previously, drones like the US-made Reaper, worth $US32 million ($46.96 million) each, or Israel’s Heron, worth approximately $US18.5 million each, were only within reach of wealthier countries.

But the Bayraktar TB2, with an estimated price tag of only $US2 million, has allowed militaries in Azerbaijan, Ethiopia and Libya to muster significant air power with less humanitarian oversight.

Sleek, remotely piloted, and a fraction of the size and cost of a fighter jet, the TB2 can soar at 5,400 metres, outsmart anti-aircraft systems, and land laser-guided missiles on ground targets with pinpoint accuracy.

To operate one, a pilot must undertake months of professional training with Baykar in Türkiye before they are ready to apply their skills in the real world.

Ukraine and Russia’s silent war in the skies

The runaway success of the TB2 has made Türkiye a dealer in a technology that is reshaping the way wars are fought.

There is now a years-long waitlist on orders from dozens of countries.

Nowhere is its power more evident than in Ukraine, where as the war grinds on, both sides have relied on unmanned drones to conduct reconnaissance and launch deadly attacks.