2023-08-26 12:04:37
The Ukrainian government is rushing to deploy the F-16 fighter jets it has been promised against Russia as soon as possible. “Our goal is to get closer to the time when the F-16s will help us keep the Russian terrorists out. As soon as possible,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Friday evening on Platform X, formerly Twitter. In addition to the Netherlands and Denmark, Norway has also pledged F-16 deliveries to Ukraine.
In total, dozens of planes are involved. The exact delivery time is not clear. With the fighter jets, Ukraine wants to increase the effectiveness of its counter-offensive against the Russian attacks and, above all, protect its airspace – together with the air defense systems – better than before.
Russia, on the other hand, is threatening that the use of fighter jets will make the war even bloodier.
“Our foreign team is working on expanding the training missions as much as possible,” said Zelenskyj in his evening video message. “Our military is preparing the infrastructure as quickly as possible and is sending pilots and engineers for training. We need to make sure that Ukraine is fully prepared.” He had previously said the F-16s would be delivered once the pilots had completed training.
After a conversation with US President Joe Biden the day before, Zelenskyy said that the US was also involved in the training of pilots and engineers. He also announced that new defense packages would be prepared to meet the needs of soldiers at the front. He did not give details.
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