US-made F-16 fighter jets have been spotted in Ukrainian airspace, according to videos shared online by local residents. They appear to show at least one jet conducting a surveillance flight over the city of Odessa.
Kiev was promised the planes in 2023 by a number of NATO states, including the US, France, Bulgaria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden. They formed the so-called ‘F-16 coalition’, pledging to provide Kiev with the fighter jets and train Ukrainian pilots to operate them. No delivery date was set, however, and Kiev has recently expressed its impatience.
A report by Bloomberg, citing sources in Kiev, indicated that the first batch of jets arrived earlier this week, and that the number delivered so far was “small.”
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the delivery in a statement on his official Telegram channel on Sunday. He did not disclose the number of planes supplied but singled out Denmark and the Netherlands to express his gratitude for the delivery. The two countries were to provide Kiev with 24 and 19 F-16s respectively from their own stocks.
Zelensky hailed the long-awaited arrival of the jets, claiming they will help Kiev deliver “exactly such combat results that will bring our victory closer – our just peace for Ukraine.”
Moscow has warned that F-16s, just like any other Western weapons provided to Kiev, will not change the outcome of the conflict and will only prolong it. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that there is no “magic pill” for Kiev and that it will not have this “panacea” for long.
“These planes will appear, their number will gradually decrease, they will be shot down and destroyed. They will not be able to significantly influence the dynamics of events at the front,” Peskov stated.
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