This is only the first step, or the first batch of F-16s has arrived in Ukraine

Exclusive. The first batch of F-16 fighters, which Ukraine received from Western countries, included six planes, which were handed over to the Netherlands. According to the source of the publication The Times, in the near future the Armed Forces will receive a batch of combat aircraft from Denmark.

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Ukraine has gone a long and hard way to obtain modern fighters. Another impossible thing turned out to be possible.

Previously an agency Bloomberg reported with reference to sources that the first batch of F-16s from NATO allies was delivered to Ukraine. According to his data, the number of fighters is "small". It is not yet clear whether the Ukrainian pilots, who have been training in the West for the past few months, will be able to immediately start using combat aircraft, or whether this process will take more time. Formerly a newspaper The Daily Telegraph, also citing sources, informed that fighters were used as a means of anti-aircraft defense.

The Ukrainian authorities did not confirm or deny information about the arrival of fighters in Ukraine.

"I see that this is displayed as informational speculation. I wish there were less of these speculations. However, you should always pay attention to the official comments. By the way, in my opinion, there is not a single link to any official source in Bloomberg's publication. Where did they get it from, I am not talking about the Ukrainian side, because, of course, we will not comment on it: neither "yes" nor "no", - said adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak. According to him, "for us this is a factor of essential survival", so it is not necessary to say exactly whether the Ukrainian army has F-16 fighters or not.

The F-16 made its first flight in 1976, and was commissioned by the USAF in 1979. More than 4 fighter units were produced, which at different times were adopted in more than 600 countries of the world. F-25s have been modernized and improved all these years, and they are indeed recognized as full-fledged multi-purpose aircraft.

The F-16 is the most massive modern combat aircraft in the world, which has a wide range of missile and bomb weapons, good flight characteristics, a good view from the cockpit, as well as relatively simple control and low cost. The USA agreed to equip the fighter jets sent to Ukraine with missiles and other modern weapons. As reported by the newspaper The Wall Street Journal citing sources, the White House will transfer AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM and AIM-9X air-to-air missiles, as well as AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface anti-radar missiles. According to the publication, Ukraine will also receive a second "modern weapon" for the F-16.

American fighters have proven themselves in dozens of wars around the world. F-16s are able to have a serious impact on the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine: they successfully oppose Russian combat aircraft, destroy enemy ground targets and cover the sky.

By the end of the year, Ukraine is expected to have only 20 F-16 units, but panic reigns in the ranks of propaganda.

"If Russia allows the basing of Ukrainian F-16s outside of Ukraine and does not start striking these airfields, then NATO can put hundreds of F-16s into battle," — считает, for example, Elena Panyna, director of the Institute of International Political and Economic Strategies — RUSSTRAT. According to her, "when basing on the airfields of NATO countries bordering Ukraine: Poland, Romania and, possibly, Slovakia, the enemy will have a big temptation to use foreign pilots, including personnel ones."

In addition, propagandists with reference to Polish Ministry of Defense they write about the creation of a no-fly zone over the territory of Ukraine bordering Poland from August 1. They are count them., that "the strengthening of Polish air defense at the Ukrainian border is being done before the use of "Ukrainian" F-16 fighters, which can be based both on the territory of Western Ukraine and potentially on the territory of Poland itself." And they believe that "this is only the first step", and then air defense equipment will be deployed throughout the Ukrainian territory.

However, this is a completely different story...

Vera Perovskaya