Ukrainian pilots have started flying F-16 fighter jets over the country, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said, quoted by Reuters. He confirmed yesterday the long-awaited arrival of American-made military aircraft - more than 29 months after the Russian invasion of the country.
Zelensky announced the delivery of the planes, which Kiev has long demanded, at a meeting with pilots at an air base with two of the planes and two others circling overhead.
„F-16s are in Ukraine. We have them. I am proud of our guys who fly these planes and have already started using them in our country,” Zelensky said from a location that, at the request of the authorities, was not disclosed for security reasons.
The delivery of the fighters is a cornerstone for Ukraine in the war, although it remains unclear how many are available and what impact they will have on strengthening air defenses and on the battlefield.
Russia has targeted the bases that house the planes and has vowed to shoot the F-16s out of the sky.
The F-16s, which are manufactured by the US company “Lockheed Martin”, have been on Ukraine's wish list for a long time due to their destructive power and global availability. They are equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and shells.
In a conversation with reporters at one of the airports, Zelensky admitted that Ukraine still does not have enough pilots trained to fly the F-16, nor enough aircraft.
"The positive thing is that we are expecting additional F-16s ... a lot of guys are already training," he said.
He said it is important that Kiev's allies find ways to expand training programs for both Ukrainian pilots and engineering teams.
Until now, Ukraine relied on outdated Soviet aircraft, which were outmatched by Russia's much more modern and larger air fleet.
Moscow used this advantage to launch regular long-range missile strikes on targets across Ukraine, as well as shelling Ukrainian frontline positions with thousands of guided bombs, supporting its forces slowly advancing eastward, Reuters noted.
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"This is the new stage in the development of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Zelensky said. "We have done a lot for the transition of the Ukrainian forces to a new aviation standard - Western combat aviation,", he added, noting that it took hundreds of meetings and constant diplomacy to get the F-16s.
"We often heard "it is impossible" as a response, but we still made our ambition, our defense need possible," he added.
It is not yet clear what missiles the fighters are equipped with. A longer range of the missiles would allow them to have a greater impact on the battlefield, military analysts say.
Zelensky also said he hoped through talks at the NATO-Ukraine Council to lobby neighboring allied countries to help intercept Russian missiles fired at Ukraine.
"This is another tool I want to try so that NATO countries can talk to Ukraine about the possibility of a small coalition of neighboring countries shooting down enemy missiles," he said.
"This decision is likely to be difficult for our partners. They are always afraid of excessive escalation, but we are fighting it (Russian aggression)," he added
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky indicated that the planes will help save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
"This means that more of the occupiers will be destroyed," Sirski wrote on “Facebook”. "This means a greater number of downed missiles and planes used by Russian criminals to attack Ukrainian cities," he added.