Ukraine received the first batch of long-awaited US-made F-16 fighter jets that would help the country counter superior Russian air forces, according to The Times.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, stated that he would neither confirm nor deny that Ukraine had received F-16s. However, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that “F-16s in Ukraine. Another impossible thing turned out to be totally possible.”
Meanwhile, four European NATO members – the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway – have publicly pledged to send military aircraft to Ukraine starting this summer.
Bloomberg reported that a small number of planes had just arrived in Ukraine, although there was no information about which country sent them or how many planes arrived in Ukraine. The Times, meanwhile, reported that the country had already received six fighter jets from the Netherlands.
Zelensky stated that Ukraine needed more than 100 US-made aircraft to effectively counter Russia, which had over 1,000 fighter jets of its own.
Ukraine’s existing air force is relatively small and mostly consists of obsolete Soviet-era aircraft that the country inherited when it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. However, the planes are vulnerable to Russian forces and therefore do not often ascend into the skies.
Many military analysts say the F-16s will help Ukraine but will not make a major difference. They also say they believe Kyiv will use the warplanes primarily to repel Russian air attacks.
Meanwhile, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby declined to confirm that the US had transferred its F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to a Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
You’d have to talk to the Ukrainians. I’m certainly not going to talk about weapons capabilities. I will only add that — to remind — as we have said and said at the NATO Summit, that the process of providing F-16s to Ukraine continues to move forward. We said that they will be operational by the end of the summer. We have no reason to doubt that.
