Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia will investigate the reports on deployment of aTurkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone by Ukraine to strike a position of Russian-backed separatists in the country's east.

Ukraine has bought sophisticated Turkish drones to boost its military and has struck a deal with Ankara to produce the same drones at a factory close to Kiev, the capital.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said it had deployed the drone to force pro-Russian separatists to cease-fire, Tuesday.

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It said the drone had destroyed an artillery unit belonging to pro-Russian separatists using a guided bomb. It said the drone had not crossed the line of contact between the two warring sides.

Russia-backed separatists have been fighting government troops in Ukraine's Donbass region since 2014, soon after Russia took over control of the disputed Crimean peninsula. Kiev says at least 14,000 people have been killed.

The Kremlin said that its fears about Turkey's decision to sell strike drones to Ukraine were being realized and that the Turkish drones risked destabilizing the situation in eastern Ukraine.

The drone issue is one of several straining ties between Turkey and Russia even though the two countries enjoy close ties in other areas.