Volodymyr Zelensky and F-16 aircraft in Ukraine, photo by Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the arrival of F-16 aircraft in Ukraine.
Source: statement the president
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Direct speech: “Since the beginning of this war, we have been talking with our partners about the need to close our skies to Russian missiles and aircraft. We have held hundreds of meetings and negotiations to strengthen the capabilities of our aviation, our air defense, our Defense Forces. We have often heard in response, “This is impossible,” but we have made possible what was our ambition, our defense need. Now it is truly a reality in our skies.
F-16 in Ukraine. We made it happen.
I am proud of all our guys who are mastering these planes well and have already started using them for our country.
I thank our team for this important result. I thank the partners who really help with the F-16, and the first nations who accepted our request for aircraft – Denmark, the Netherlands, the United States – and all our partners – we appreciate your support!”
What came before: On July 31, Bloomberg sources reported that the first batch of F-16 fighters had arrived in Ukraine.
On August 4, The Economist reported that Ukraine received the first ten of a possible 79 F-16s on the last day of July, a year after the US gave its more willing European allies the green light to send them. Ukraine is due to receive 20 of the jets by the end of 2024.
