Ukrainian War | Ukraine started flights with F-16 fighters – Zelenskyi: “We did it”

Ukrainian air force pilots have started flights with F-16 fighters in Ukrainian airspace, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced on Sunday, according to the Reuters news agency.

The matter was reported at a press conference in Ukraine at a location that has not been disclosed to the public. Two Ukrainian F-16 fighters had been brought to the scene.

“The F-16 fighters are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of the pilots who control these fighters and have already started using them for our country,” Zelenskyi said, according to Reuters.

Zelenskyi did not say how many fighter jets have been delivered to Ukraine. British newspaper of The Economist ten fighters have been delivered so far and a total of 79 are to be delivered.

Ukraine has been waiting for US-made F-16 fighters long. President of the United States Joe Biden approved the handover of fighters to Ukraine in August last year.

Until now, Ukraine has had to rely on Soviet-era Mig 29 and Sukhoi fighters, which do not match Russia’s newer fighters in terms of performance.

The F-16 fighters are capable of carrying bombs, missiles and rockets, but it is not publicly known how the Ukrainian F-16 fighters will be armed.

Russia has already struck bases where fighters could be kept.

Zelenskyi has hoped that the next step in the cooperation between Ukraine and NATO would be that NATO countries could help Ukraine fight missiles fired at Ukraine.

In addition, Zelenskyi has hoped that Ukraine would get more F-16 fighters. In May, he stated to the AFP news agency that Ukraine would need 130 fighter jets to respond to the Russian air threat.

“Our allies know that our number of fighters and trained pilots is not enough at the moment. But the good news is that we expect more fighters in the future,” Zelenskyi said.