Ukraine’s F-16s scored their first victory against Russia after the US-made jets were deployed to shoot down Russia’s latest missile and drone barrage, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the jets, which arrived earlier this month, were key to mitigating the damage from Monday’s massive attack, which saw more than 200 missiles and drones fired from Russia, the Kyiv Independent reports.
“[The F-16s had] a very good result,” Zelensky told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. “We thank our partners for providing us with the F-16s.
“Of course, this is not enough,” he added. “We don’t have many of them, and we still need to train pilots.”
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have pledged to provide Ukraine with more than 80 F-16s after getting the green light from the Biden-Harris administration, with the first batch of planes and trained pilots arriving about three weeks before Monday’s attacks.
The Ukrainian air force said the jets and Kyiv’s aerial defense system were able to shoot down 102 missiles and 99 drones on Monday, but the claims could not be independently verified.
Officials reported that the attack, which struck half of Ukraine, killed at least four people, with the Russian assault also hitting major power stations and causing blackouts across the country.
The Kremlin claimed the attack was specifically targeting Kyiv’s energy infrastructure and airfields, but the latter are protected by newly installed rocket-intercepting systems working to keep the F-16s safe.
Zelensky and military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi have said that once more F-16 jets and pilots are acquired, Kyiv will be able to successfully defend itself against Russia’s aerial assaults.
The F-16s’ first mission bodes well for their defensive capabilities despite concerns that the Ukrainian pilots may have not been well-equipped to handle the powerful jets.
The pilots were trained for just a year at the European F-16 Training Center in the Netherlands, as opposed to the four years a pilot in Denmark would typically spend training.
Other NATO nations, including the US, have volunteered to let additional Ukrainian pilots train using F-16s in their country, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Ukrainian officials have also suggested using the jets to attack Russia directly as Zelensky called on the US and its Western allies to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons against Moscow.
Despite the blows the nation suffered Monday, there is little evidence that the West will lift the restrictions on the weapons it provides Ukraine.
