By ANDREW MELDRUM
SOMEWHERE IN UKRAINE (AP) — Ukraine’s newly arrived F-16 fighter jets were put on display Sunday by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the planes will boost the country’s war effort against Russia.
“These jets are in our sky and today you see them,” said Zelenskyy, standing in front of two of the fighter jets as two others flew overhead in close formation. “It’s good that they are here and that we can put them to use.”
Ukraine is also trying to get neighboring countries to help defend it against Russian missiles, Zelenskyy said.
“This decision is probably a difficult one for our partners, as they are always afraid of unnecessary escalation,” said Ukraine’s president. “We will work on this … I think we have a good option of a NATO-Ukraine council … so that NATO countries could talk to Ukraine about the possibility of a small coalition of neighboring countries that would shoot down enemy missiles.”
Two F-16 jets, sporting Ukraine’s trident insignia on their tails and draped in camouflage netting, were a dramatic background for Zelenskyy’s address to Armed Forces Day, an event held under tight security at an undisclosed location to protect the fighter jets from Russian attacks.
“Since the beginning of this war, we have been talking with our partners about the need to protect our Ukrainian skies from Russian missiles and Russian aircraft,” Zelenskyy said. “Now we have a new reality in our skies. The F-16s are in Ukraine. We made it happen. I am proud of our guys who are mastering these aircraft and have already started using them for our country. … Our combat aviation will bring us closer to victory.”
Ukraine may keep some of the F-16 fighter jets at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes, according to a senior Ukrainian military official. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow could consider launching strikes at facilities in NATO countries if they host the warplanes used in Ukraine.
The American-made F-16 is an iconic fighter jet that’s been the front-line combat plane of choice for the NATO alliance and numerous air forces around the world for 50 years.
Although new to Ukraine, the F-16s are actually older jets that have been donated by Western allies of Ukraine. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 of them over coming months in what could be a slow trickle of deliveries. Zelenskyy did not say how many F-16s have arrived in Ukraine or which countries they came from.
United States President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead in August 2023 for used F-16s to be deployed to Ukraine, though the U.S. won’t be providing any of its own planes.
The F-16s will boost Ukraine’s military strength, especially by upgrading its air defenses. But analysts say they won’t turn the tide of the war on their own.
Russia is making small but steady battlefield gains in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and its steady forward movement is adding up as Ukraine gradually yields ground.
