During the Air Force Day celebrations, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi presented F-16 fighter jets in the sky of Ukraine, emphasizing the beginning of a new stage in the development of the air force.
This was reported by the correspondent of Ukrinform.
“Now is a new stage in the development of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We have done a lot for the Ukrainian Air Force to switch to a new standard of aviation, to Western combat aviation. From the beginning of this war, we talked with our partners about the need to close the Ukrainian sky from Russian missiles and Russian planes. We have held hundreds of meetings and negotiations to strengthen the capabilities of our aviation,… air defense, our Defense Forces. We often heard the answer “it’s impossible”. But … we made possible what was our ambition, our defense need, and now it is really a reality, a reality in our skies – the F-16 in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyi presented F-16 fighter jets in Ukrainian skies on the Day of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces / Photo: Ruslan Kanyuka, Ukrinform
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He thanked the Ukrainian pilots who are mastering new planes and international partners.
“Thank you to the partners who are really helping with the F-16 and the first countries that accepted our request for the aircraft. Thank you, Denmark, Netherlands, USA and all our partners. We appreciate your support,” Zelenskyi noted, adding that all these steps bring Ukraine’s victory in the war closer.
Video: The official channel of the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyi
During the event, attendees and media representatives had the opportunity to see the F-16 both on the ground and in the sky.
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As Ukrinform reported, since the beginning of the full-scale war, the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already made 22,000 sorties.
