President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday that Ukrainian pilots have begun using F-16s for domestic missions, bringing the much-anticipated return of American-built fighter jets to the country more than 29 months after Russia's invasion.
The president of Ukraine met with military pilots at an air base, surrounded by two F-16s and two more flying overhead, and declared the employment of the aircraft, for which Kyiv has long advocated.
There are F-16s in Ukraine. We succeeded. At a location that authorities asked Reuters not to reveal for security reasons, Zelenskyy said, "I am proud of our guys who are mastering these jets and have already started using them for our country."
After several months of waiting, the planes' arrival is a significant milestone for Ukraine, though it's still unclear how many are available and how much of an impact they will have on improving air defenses and combat effectiveness.
Russia has threatened to fire down any bases that might harbor them in order to prevent them from having an influence on the conflict.
The F-16s, which were produced by Lockheed Martin, had long been desired by Ukraine due to their devastating capability and widespread availability. They have a 20mm cannon and are capable of firing missiles, rockets, and bombs.
Speaking to reporters on an airport tarmac, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine still lacked both enough F-16 aircraft and the pilots qualified to operate them.
“The positive thing is that we are expecting additional F-16s … many guys are now training,” he said.
He stated that it was critical that Kyiv's friends figure out how to increase access to training programs and possibilities for Ukrainian engineering teams as well as pilots.
Ukraine formerly depended on an old fleet of Soviet-era jets that were outgunned by Russia's more sophisticated and far larger fleet.
Russia has utilized that advantage to launch frequent long-range missile assaults on Ukrainian targets, as well as pound Ukrainian front-line positions with hundreds of guided bombs, to help its soldiers as they slowly advance eastward.
“This is the new stage of development of the air force of Ukraine’s armed forces,” Zelenskyy said.
“We did a lot for Ukrainian forces to transition to a new aviation standard, the Western combat aviation,” he added, citing hundreds of meetings and unrelenting diplomacy to obtain the F-16s.
“We often heard ‘it is impossible’ as an answer but we still made our ambition, our defensive need, possible,” he said.
It is unknown what missiles the planes are armed with. Military researchers believe that missiles with a longer range would have a bigger influence on the war.
Zelenskyy also stated that he planned to push ally surrounding nations to assist in intercepting Russian missiles aimed at Ukraine through discussions at the Ukraine-NATO Council forum.
“This is another tool, and I want to try it, so that NATO countries can talk to Ukraine about the possibility of a small coalition of neighbouring countries shooting down enemy missiles,” he said.
“I think this decision is probably difficult for our partners, they are always afraid of excessive escalation but we are fighting that.”
