Zelensky Shows Off Newly Arrived US F-16 Jets From Secret Location
Ukraine's President Zelensky has continued poking the Russian bear, this time by showing off $60+ million (a pop) new toys given by Western allies.
His office published video of Zelensky addressing a military ceremony from an undisclosed location inaugurating the country's first US-made F-16s into combat deployment.
The video featured scenes of a pair of F-16s flying low over the event, as well as a jet fighter with a newly minted national trident logo parked on the tarmac behind him.
"We often heard the word 'impossible'. Now it is a reality. Reality in our skies. F-16s in Ukraine. We made it happen," Zelensky said with jets flying overhead.
"I am proud of all our guys who are mastering these aircraft and have already started using them for our country," he said, following an over year-long training program which was based in the United States and northern Europe.
AFP and other international journalists present for the event witnessed at least two of the newly transferred F-16s, but the public has been kept in the dark as to precisely how many have already been transferred.
Kiev will be immediately worried about Russian forces taking them out, given the symbolism of such a big transfer from external backers. In prior months, Ukraine even signaled it would park some at nearby partner countries' airbases, just out of Moscow's reach.
Ironically, even while unveiling the first of dozens of jets to be transferred, Zelensky complained that it is still not enough from the West. "Our partners know that the number of F-16s we have in Ukraine, the number of pilots who have already been trained, is not enough," he said. "The good news is that we are expecting additional F-16s."
We are now in a new phase of development for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We have done a lot to transition the Ukrainian Air Force to a new aviation standard – Western combat aviation. From the beginning of this war, we have been talking with our partners about… pic.twitter.com/z21yTU0Hjo
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 4, 2024
"Our guys are training a lot," he also confirmed of the ongoing pilot program which includes learning English technical terms which are unique to the aircraft. He further thanked Denmark, the Netherlands, the United States and additional allies for providing the jets and supporting the training program.
While something like 80 of the jets have been promised, Zelensky has been urging that partner nations secure at least 130 jets so Ukraine can secure its skies, which thus far Russia has dominated.