MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. Ukraine is already using Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets, but the country needs more of these jets, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said, addressing a Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting on Friday.
While fighter jets "shoot missiles and drones down," their number is not enough, he lamented. "And you understand this. We need a stronger F-16 fleet," he said at the Ramstein air base in Germany where the meeting is taking place. Also, the Ukrainian leader promised to come up with a proposal later on Friday.
On August 4, the Ukrainian leader confirmed that Kiev had received the first F-16s from its Western allies. British magazine The Economist said earlier that Ukraine had received ten F-16 fighter jets from Western countries and would receive twice this number by the end of this year. In all, Kiev may receive as many as 79·F-16 jets when all is said and done, the magazine reported.
In late August, an F-16 was destroyed in Ukraine. The country’s General Staff confirmed the loss of a fighter jet without providing any details about the incident, including regarding where it had occurred. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the plane crashed. Ukrainian lawmaker Maryana Bezuglaya who has been regularly reprimanding senior Ukrainian military commanders surmised that the fighter jet had been erroneously shot down with a Patriot surface-to-air missile. Air Force Commander Nikolay Oleshchuk (included on Russia’s list of terrorists and extremists) was later fired even as Kiev says his resignation was unrelated to the fighter incident.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that more weapons supplies to Kiev, including F-16s, will not be a gamechanger but rather prolong the conflict, with those fighter jets burning like any other touted Western military hardware.