Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian pilots had begun flying the F-16s, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighter jets more than 29 months after the Russian incursion.
The Ukrainian president announced the use of F-16 fighter jets, which Kiev has long lobbied for, while meeting military pilots at an airbase with two fighter jets flanking him and two more flying overhead.
“The F-16s are in Ukraine. We have done it. I am proud of our soldiers who have mastered these fighter jets and have already started using them in the service of our country,” Zelenskiy said in a venue that officials asked reporters not to disclose for security reasons.
The arrival of the fighter jets marks a milestone for Ukraine after months of waiting, but it remains unclear how many will be delivered and how effective they will be in strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses and on the battlefield.
Russia has targeted bases that may be housing them and has vowed to shoot them down.
The F-16 has long been on Ukraine’s wish list. It is armed with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles.
Speaking to reporters on the tarmac at the airport, Zelensky said Ukraine still did not have enough pilots trained to fly F-16 fighter jets, nor did it have enough jets to fly them.
“The good thing is, there are additional F-16s on the way, and a lot of our guys are training right now,” he said.
Ukraine has relied on an ageing fleet of Soviet-era military aircraft that is outgunned by Russia’s more advanced and much larger fleet.
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Russia has used its advantage to regularly launch long-range missile attacks on targets across Ukraine, bombarding Ukraine’s frontline positions with thousands of guided bombs, and supporting Ukrainian forces’ slow advance in the east.
“This is a new stage in the development of the Ukrainian Air Force,” Zelenskyy said.
“We have done a lot to help the Ukrainian military transition to a new aviation standard, Western combat aviation,” he added, noting that it took hundreds of meetings and relentless diplomacy to acquire the F-16s.
It is unclear what type of missiles the fighter jets are equipped with, but military analysts say longer-range missiles could give them greater impact on the battlefield.
Zelensky also said he wanted to encourage neighbouring allies through discussions in the NATO-Ukraine Council to intercept Russian missiles fired at Ukraine.
“This is another tool, and we would like to try this out so that NATO countries can talk to Ukraine about the possibility of a small coalition of neighboring countries shooting down enemy missiles,” he said.
“I think this decision is probably a difficult one for our partners. They are always afraid of escalation, but we are fighting against that.”
