Photo: Sergei Supinksy Agence France-Presse Behind Volodymyr Zelensky, two other gray aircraft resembling F-16s were on the ground, partially covered with camouflage nets and their tails emblazoned with the national coat of arms, the trident.
Sergii Volskyi – Agence France-Presse in Kiev
Published at 10:57
- Europe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that he had finally received his very first F-16 fighter jets, the American-made warplanes that Kiev has been waiting for years to use to repel the advance of Russian forces.
This announcement comes as the situation remains tense on the front lines. Ukraine announced on Sunday the evacuation of children and their parents from several localities in the Donetsk region (east), close to areas where Russia has claimed new advances in recent days.
Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, kyiv has been pleading for the delivery of F-16s in the hope of ending Russian domination in the air and better protecting its cities and troops against incessant bombing.
“We have had hundreds of meetings and negotiations” with allies to obtain the jets and bolster the country’s air defenses, and “we have often heard the words ‘it’s impossible’ in response,” Zelensky said at a ceremony at an undisclosed location in Ukraine.
“Now it’s reality, reality in our skies. F-16s are in Ukraine,” he said. “I am proud of our guys who […] have already started using them for our country.”
The American-made jets, touted for their precision, speed and range, are considered the crown jewel in a sprawling list of military hardware that Ukraine has requested from its backers in an attempt to repel Russian forces advancing on its soil.
Zelensky did not disclose the number of aircraft kyiv had received, saying only that it was “insufficient,” and the number of Ukrainian pilots trained in the West to fly and maintain the aircraft.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“The positive thing is that we are expecting additional F-16s” and that “many of our guys are being trained,” the Ukrainian president said.
AFP journalists saw at least two F-16s flying over the site during the ceremony.
Behind Zelensky, two other gray F-16-like aircraft sat on the ground, partially covered in camouflage netting and their tails emblazoned with the national coat of arms, the trident.
In mid-May, President Zelensky had declared during an interview with AFP that he needed 120 to 130 of these aircraft to achieve parity with the Russian air force.
However, Ukraine's partners have promised to send fewer than 100 F-16s to date, with delivery likely to take several years, after extensive training of the pilots who will use them.
Moscow minimizes
Neither the date of delivery, nor the country which supplied this first batch were revealed.
The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced on July 10 the start of the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine, “ from Denmark and the Netherlands.”
While rumors about the imminent delivery of the F-16s had been circulating for several days, Moscow warned last week that these planes would be “shot down” in Ukraine, ensuring that they would not have “significant impact” on the front.
A series of recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian air bases has raised questions about kyiv’s ability to protect the multimillion-dollar planes.
In early July, Russia claimed to have destroyed five military aircraft in an attack on an air base in central Ukraine.
Following the bombing, Ukrainian military correspondents criticized the air force’s top brass, saying the planes had been parked in the open without adequate protection.
The Ukrainian air force relies on an aging fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29s and Sukhoi jets, battle-tested by more than two years of demanding combat missions.
France, for its part, announced in June that it would provide kyiv with French Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets this year, without specifying their number.
Following Moscow's claim of territorial advances in the east in recent days, the governor of Donetsk announced on Sunday that he would have to evacuate a total of “744 children with their parents from four communities to safer regions of Ukraine.”
The governor has called on civilians to leave the region in recent weeks due to an increase in Russian bombing.