First US-made F-16s arrive in Ukraine – Bloomberg
The first batch of US-made F-16 fighter jets has arrived in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. The number of warplanes is “small,” sources told the outlet on condition of anonymity. Kiev has yet to comment on the reported delivery.
The origin of the aircraft is not yet clear. Last year, a group of NATO states, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden, formed the so-called ‘F-16 coalition’. Greece, the US, Bulgaria, and France later joined.
While some countries, including the Netherlands and Denmark, pledged to provide Kiev with 24 and 19 aircraft respectively from their own stocks, others committed to training Ukrainian pilots.
Norway has also recently stated that it would donate six fighter jets to Kiev.
According to the sources cited by Bloomberg, a delivery deadline set for the end of this month has been “respected.” Earlier in July, the outgoing Dutch government said all preparations for the delivery of F-16s had been finished and the transfer would take place “soon.”
It is unclear whether the Ukrainian pilots trained to operate the aircraft by Kiev’s Western backers can immediately make use of the warplanes, Bloomberg noted.
A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Diana Davityan, declined to comment on the issue when contacted by the news outlet.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that F-16s, just like the other Western weapons provided to Kiev, will not change the outcome of the conflict. The Russian military will destroy the planes as it has done with other Ukrainian hardware, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this year.
Last week, Kiev’s top military commander, Colonel General Aleksandr Syrsky, admitted to The Guardian that the Ukrainian military would have to limit the use of F-16s to avoid them being shot down by Russian forces. Moscow has “superior aviation” and “very strong” air defenses, the general said at that time, adding that the US-made aircraft would have to stay dozens of kilometers away from the front lines to avoid serious risk.
A private Russian company earlier offered a bounty of 15 million rubles ($170,000) for the destruction of the first F-16 in the conflict.
Russia has on multiple occasions warned that the ever-increasing level of support that Western states are providing to Kiev will only prolong the conflict and human suffering. Continued deliveries of ever-heavier weapons to Ukraine also make Kiev’s Western backers de facto participants of the conflict, it said. Top officials in Moscow, including President Vladimir Putin, have referred to the Ukraine crisis as a proxy war waged by Washington and its NATO allies against Russia.
