Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced: “Ukraine has received the first batch of F-16 aircraft from Western allies.”
Zelensky wrote on Telegram today, Sunday: “F-16 aircraft are in Ukraine. We have confirmed this, and (Ukrainian pilots) have already started using them.”
The number of aircraft Ukraine has received and their location have not been specified.
Zelensky also published a video clip of him speaking to Ukrainian pilots with an F-16 aircraft behind him.
Earlier, Western media reports stated that Ukraine has already received 10 F-16 fighters from Western countries, and it is planned that their number will increase to 20 by the end of the year.
According to reports, the maximum number of F-16s that Kiev can receive may reach 79 fighters, and Western countries will continue the process of transferring them in stages throughout 2025.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed earlier that supplying Kiev with new weapons, including F-16s, will not change the situation on the front, but will
prolong the conflict.
He also pointed out that these fighters will meet the same fate as other Western military equipment that was burned.
Putin warned that the Russian army “will burn the F-16s in Ukraine and will think about hitting them at their bases in the countries from which they may take off.”
Source: National Iraqi News Agency