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Ukraine says will base foreign aircraft, if supplied any, at its airfields

According to Yury Ignat, Ukrainian pilots are already being trained to fly foreign combat aircraft in Europe, with new groups being sent there every week

MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. Any warplanes that Ukraine may receive from its Western allies will be based at the country’s airfields, Yury Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said on Monday.

"Currently, our aircraft are based at tens of Ukrainian airfields, from where they perform combat missions," he told a Ukrainian telethon. "The planes have been grouped together and are thoroughly camouflaged. Foreign aircraft, too, will be based at similar airfields," he added.

According to Ignat, Ukrainian pilots are already being trained to fly foreign combat aircraft in Europe, with new groups being sent there every week.

US President Joe Biden announced at a news conference on May 21, following the G7 summit in Japan, that the West would begin training Ukrainian pilots on fourth generation fighters, including F-16s. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, in turn, said that Washington and its allies would discuss the list of potential countries who could deliver F-16s to Kiev in the next few months.

Commenting on the West’s plans to supply F-16s to Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said earlier that Western countries continued to follow the path of escalating the Ukrainian conflict and Russia would take this into account in its further plans.