Ukraine has received its first batch of US-made F-16 jets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, quickly adding that more are needed to beat back Russian forces.
For more than two years, Ukraine has pleaded with its Western partners for the aircraft — long considered the crown jewel in the sprawling list of military hardware Kyiv has sought.
“We often heard the word ‘impossible.’ Now it is a reality. Reality in our skies. F-16s in Ukraine. We made it happen,” Zelenskiy said, as some flew above him during the announcement.
Photo: AFP
Zelenskiy was standing in front of what looked like two gray, partially-covered F-16s branded with the Ukrainian trident, in a location reporters were asked not to disclose for security reasons.
“I am proud of all our guys who are mastering these aircraft and have already started using them for our country,” he said.
He did not say how many jets had been delivered and declined to comment on their specific tasks, but journalists saw at least two F-16s.
The announcement was welcomed by many as Kyiv’s forces are struggling to hold back advances by Russian troops.
“This is the combat aircraft we have been waiting for, which can significantly enhance our capabilities,” Ukrainian parliament chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk said.
Kyiv hopes the arrival of the fighter jets — touted for their precision, speed and range — would enable it to better protect itself from Russian bombardment.
They could begin to provide an offensive air capability to Ukraine, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.
Their decisiveness would depend on a number of factors, including the types of weapons provided with the planes and proficiency levels of pilots, the report said.
Zelenskiy immediately warned more were needed.
“Our partners know that the number of F-16s we have in Ukraine, the number of pilots who have already been trained, is not enough,” he said. “The good news is that we are expecting additional F-16s.”
Several NATO members have pledged to supply varying numbers of the fighter jets, and have been training Ukrainian pilots and crews for months.
“Our guys are training a lot,” Zelenskiy said, thanking Denmark, the Netherlands, the US and other allies.
Amid a Russian air campaign, Kyiv has placed Ukraine’s need for improved air defenses at the top of the agenda in meetings with allies.
“I am grateful to our allies for this decision. First and foremost, the effective use of modern aircraft means saving the lives of Ukrainian servicemen,” Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrsky said.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
JOINT EFFORTS: The three countries have been strengthening an alliance and pressing efforts to bolster deterrence against Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea The US, Japan and the Philippines on Friday staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance. The Chinese frigate attempted to get closer to the waters, where the warships and aircraft from the three allied countries were undertaking maneuvers off the Scarborough Shoal — also known as Huangyan Island (黃岩島) and claimed by Taiwan and China — in an unsettling moment but it was warned by a Philippine frigate by radio and kept away. “There was a time when they attempted to maneuver