According to Newsweek, Western-provided F-16 fighter jets may now be in Ukraine after Kyiv scored several prestigious victories against Russian air and sea forces.
Ukraine's Western allies promised Kyiv the advanced US-made F-16 fighter jets months ago, but questions remained as to exactly when the planes would appear in Ukraine's skies.
Kyiv has been pushing for the planes, which would increase Ukraine's ability to challenge Russia's dominance in the skies and carry out more strikes on key Russian targets. The F-16s are equipped with more advanced avionics and radars and are designed to fire NATO-standard weapons that Ukraine uses with its older Soviet-era aircraft.
In recent days, Russian-linked or anti-Ukraine Telegram channels have suggested that Ukraine may have used the advanced jets to destroy key Russian sites, although there is no confirmation that Ukraine received the jets.
On December 27, a US source told Newsweek that Ukraine may indeed have received the first of the promised F-16s.
Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment by email.
Russia has reportedly lost eight aircraft in the past three weeks, a major blow to Moscow's air force.
On Dec. 5, the Ukrainian military said it shot down a Russian jet around Snake Island, a Black Sea outpost located about 30 miles off Ukraine's coastline, near Romania.
Twelve days later, Ukrainian media reported that Moscow had lost a Su-34 fighter bomber after Kyiv attacked a Russian airbase. Separately, the Ukrainian Air Force said Moscow shot down one of its own Su-25 tactical bombers that same day.
On December 22, Ukraine said it shot down three more Russian Su-34 bombers, and on Christmas Eve, Kyiv said it shot down a Russian Su-30 and Su-34.
In the early hours of December 26, a Ukrainian missile strike damaged the Russian amphibious assault ship "Novocherkask" in Crimea. Since then, Telegram channels that are Russian or anti-Ukrainian have been speculating that an F-16 was used to fire the cruise missiles at the Russian ship and what threat the planes could pose to the Kremlin in Ukraine's hands.
"This aircraft is integrated into NATO's command and control system and therein lies the danger," one prominent Russian military blogger said on Tuesday.
Although not officially announced, it is possible that Ukraine received at least an initial batch of F-16s. In mid-October, Ukraine debuted its ATACMS missiles in dramatic attacks on Russian air bases that destroyed multiple Russian helicopters. The attacks are believed to have taken Moscow by surprise, with the weapons confirmed after Ukraine first fired the missiles.
The same could apply to the long-awaited fast jets and give Ukraine a much-needed advantage as the front lines are at a standstill during the treacherous winter months.
"I hope the West has learned NOT to announce new weapons systems, as they did for the most part in the first 20 months of the war," said Daniel Rice, a former special adviser to Ukraine's top commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny.
"Russian forces have to learn 'the hard way' when Ukraine launches a new weapon," Rice, now president of the American University in Kyiv, told Newsweek.
On December 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Dutch government was beginning preparations to deliver an initial batch of 18 F-16 aircraft for delivery to Ukraine.
Separately, the Dutch defense ministry said that before the planes are handed over, Ukraine's personnel must be properly trained and "appropriate infrastructure" built. The planes may be modified, and "some of the planes need major repairs," the Dutch government said.
On Tuesday, the UK Ministry of Defense announced that the "first group" of Ukrainian pilots being trained by the British military had completed their basic training in the country and "are now learning to fly F-16 fighter jets in Denmark after completing the basic program to study in the UK".
In early November, several F-16s arrived at a Romanian facility designed to train Ukrainian pilots, and others are being trained at an air base in Arizona.
"Everything is going according to plan," said the spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force, Colonel Yury Ikhnat, quoted by the Ukrainian media./BGNES
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