Ukraine has received its first American-made F-16 fighter jets, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“F-16 in Ukraine. We did it,” President Zelensky said at a ceremony at a secret location, flanked by the jets.
He thanked Denmark, the Netherlands and the US in particular for helping deliver the jets following 18 months of waiting – though added that many more were needed.
Their arrival marks a crucial milestone in boosting the capabilities of Ukraine’s air force, which largely relies on old Soviet-era jets.
Mr Zelensky did not specify how many aircraft had arrived in Ukraine – or whether they had all been sent by the three Nato countries he mentioned.
Some 65 F-16s have been pledged by Nato countries since US President Joe Biden first authorised willing European allies to send them to Ukraine in August 2023.
The UK does not have any F-16s in its air force, though it is supplying long-range Storm Shadow missiles which can be fitted to the jets.
The F-16 was introduced in 1978. Many Western militaries are in the process of retiring the ageing fighters, replacing them with the US-made F-35, introduced in 2015.
The F-16s will work alongside a limited number of Western-supplied surface-to-air missile systems such as Patriot and NASAMS which are already on the ground.
This year Ukraine has been under huge threat from Russian glide bombs – bombs fitted with pop-out wing kits and guidance modules to deliver precision strike stand-off capabilities, similar to the JDAM munitions from the United States.
Around 3,000 were dropped in March alone, mostly from Su-34 fighter-bombers.
If Ukraine can protect its F-16s on the ground, the hope is that they could play an important part in pushing back Russian aircraft to a point where they can no longer target Ukrainian ground forces with glide bombs.
Kyiv had suggested that it could keep some F-16s at foreign military bases, but that suggestion prompted President Vladimir Putin to warn that any Western bases storing Ukrainian jets would be a legitimate military target for Russia.
Experts also say the fighters could provide much needed air support to Ukrainian ground forces, who have faced relentless attacks in recent months, especially in the eastern Donbas region.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov previously vowed that Western-made F-16s flying for Ukraine would be “shot down”.
“But of course, these deliveries will not have any significant impact on the development of events on the front,” he added.
