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F-16s not to turn the tide in Kiev’s favor — senior Russian diplomat

Sergey Ryabkov stressed that the "wreckage and burned fuselages" of F-16 jets will eventually be displayed at the NATO trophy equipment exhibition on Poklonnaya Hill

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. No equipment supplied to Ukraine from the collective West will be able to turn the tide on the front in Kiev's favor and prevent Russia from achieving the goals of the special military operation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the Rossiya-1 TV channel, answering a question about deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

"No Western equipment that gets to Ukraine and is serviced either by local or [foreign] instructors brought there from the countries from where this equipment comes, will make it possible to prevent our success in terms of achieving the goals of the special operation. No equipment whatsoever," the diplomat stressed. "They have no means that could change the situation in their favor."

Ryabkov added that the "wreckage and burned fuselages" of F-16 jets will eventually be displayed at the NATO trophy equipment exhibition on Poklonnaya Hill.

On Wednesday, The Times quoted an unnamed source as saying that Ukraine had received six F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands. According it, Kiev will soon receive a new batch of fighter jets, this time from Denmark.

The first batch of F-16 fighter jets supplied by NATO members has arrived in Ukraine, Bloomberg said earlier citing sources.

According to the news agency, "the number of jets is small." The sources added that it was not clear whether Ukrainian pilots, who have trained in the West in the past months, will "immediately use the warplanes or the process will take longer.".