The first US-made F-16s have arrived in Ukraine

According to RT, Bloomberg reported on July 31 that the first batch of US-made F-16 fighter jets had arrived in Ukraine. However, anonymous sources told the news agency that the number of these fighter jets was "small". Kiev has yet to comment on the above delivery.

The origin of the aircraft remains unclear. Last year, a group of NATO countries, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Sweden, formed the so-called 'F-16 alliance'. Greece, the US, Bulgaria and France later joined.

While some countries, including the Netherlands and Denmark, have pledged to provide Kiev with 24 and 19 aircraft from their stocks respectively, others have pledged to train Ukrainian pilots.

Norway also recently announced that it will provide six fighter jets to Kiev.

The delivery date set for late July has been “accomplished,” according to sources cited by Bloomberg. Earlier in July, the outgoing Dutch government said that all preparations for the delivery of the F-16s had been completed and that the delivery would take place “soon.”

Bloomberg notes that it is still unclear whether Ukrainian pilots trained by Western countries supporting Kiev to operate the aircraft will be able to use the fighter jets immediately.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Diana Davityan declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the news agency.

Moscow has repeatedly said that the F-16s, like other Western weapons supplied to Kiev, will not change the outcome of the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this year that the Russian military would destroy the planes, as it had done with other Ukrainian military hardware.

Last week, Kiev’s top military commander, Colonel Aleksandr Syrsky, admitted to The Guardian that the Ukrainian military would have to limit its use of F-16s to avoid being shot down by Russian forces. At the time, the general said that Moscow had “superior aviation capabilities” and “very strong” air defenses, adding that the US-made aircraft would have to fly dozens of kilometres from the frontline to avoid serious risks.

A private Russian company had previously offered a bounty of 15 million rubles ($170,000) for the destruction of the first F-16 in the conflict.

Russia has repeatedly warned that the increasing level of support provided by Western nations to Kiev will only prolong the conflict and cause more human suffering. Continuing to supply Ukraine with ever heavier weapons also makes Kiev’s Western backers participants in the conflict, Russia claims. Senior officials in Moscow, including President Vladimir Putin, have called the Ukraine crisis a proxy war waged by Washington and its NATO allies against Russia.

Hoang Bach