Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sits in a F-16 fighter jet at Skrydstrup Airbase in Vojens, Denmark, August 20, 2023. Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via REUTERS/File Photo
(Reuters) -Ukrainian pilots have started flying F-16s for operations within the nation, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the U.S.-made fighter jets more than 29 months after Russia's invasion.
The Ukrainian leader announced the use of F-16s, which Kyiv has long lobbied for, as he met military pilots at an air base flanked by two of the jets, with two more flying overhead.
"F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our guys who are mastering these jets and have already started using them for our country," Zelenskiy said at a location that authorities asked Reuters not to disclose for security reasons. The arrival of the jets is a milestone for Ukraine, though it remains unclear how many are available and how much of an impact they will have in enhancing air defences and on the battlefield.
Russia has been targeting bases that may house them and vowed to shoot them down.
Built by Lockheed Martin, the F-16s had been on Ukraine's wish list for a long time because of their destructive power and global availability. They are equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles.
Talking to reporters at an airfield, Zelenskiy said Ukraine still did not have enough pilots trained to use the F-16s or enough of the jets themselves.
"The positive thing is that we are expecting additional F-16s ... many guys are now training," he said.
It is important, he said, that Kyiv's allies find ways to expand training programmes and opportunities for both Ukrainian pilots and engineering teams.
'NEW STAGE'
Ukraine has previously relied on an ageing fleet of Soviet-era warplanes that are outgunned by Russia's more advanced and far more numerous fleet.
Russia has used that edge to conduct regular long-range missile strikes on targets across Ukraine and also to pound Ukrainian frontline positions with thousands of guided bombs, supporting its forces that are slowly advancing in the east.
"This is the new stage of development of the air force of Ukraine's armed forces," Zelenskiy said.
"We did a lot for Ukrainian forces to transition to a new aviation standard, the Western combat aviation," he added, citing hundreds of meetings and unrelenting diplomacy to obtain the F-16s.
"We often heard 'it is impossible' as an answer, but we still made our ambition, our defensive need, possible," he said.
It remains unclear what missiles the jets are equipped with. A longer range of missile would allow them to have a greater battlefield impact, military analysts say.
Zelenskiy said he also hoped, through conversations at the Ukraine-NATO Council platform, to lobby allied neighbouring countries to help intercept Russian missiles being launched at Ukraine.
"This is another tool, and I want to try it, so that NATO countries can talk to Ukraine about the possibility of a small coalition of neighbouring countries shooting down enemy missiles," he said.
"This decision is probably difficult for our partners. They are always afraid of excessive escalation, but we are fighting that."
Ukraine's top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said the jets would help save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
"This means that more of the occupiers will be destroyed," Syrskyi wrote on Facebook. "It means a greater number of downed missiles and aircraft used by the Russian criminals to attack Ukrainian cities."
(Additional reporting by Ron PopeskiWriting by Tom BalmforthEditing by Andrew Cawthorne and Helen Popper)
