Russia May Soon Face Off Against American-Made F-16s Operating in Its Own Airspace
American-made F-16s could be in Ukraine’s hands this summer, and potentially in Russia’s skies as well.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Thursday that the first F-16s will be given to the embattled nation within months, assuming that pilot training and maintenance training move forward as planned, according to Politico.
Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Belgium are offering jets from their air forces to Ukraine, and pilots are currently training on the fighters in multiple nations.
As the deployment of F-16s moves closer to reality, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the rules of war mean Ukraine does not need to consider the F-16s to be defensive weapons, according to the Financial Times.
“It’s for each and every ally to decide whether there are some caveats on what they deliver, and different allies have had a bit different policies on that,” Stoltenberg said in a Radio Free Europe interview.
“But in general, we need to remember what this is. This is a war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine, in blatant violation of international law. And according to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense,” he said.
“And that includes also striking legitimate military targets, Russian military targets, outside Ukraine. That is international law and, of course, Ukraine has the right to do so, to protect itself,” he said.
Military targets inside Russia have been hit in recent months with drones and missiles, but using F-16s would represent a significant potential escalation.
Stoltenberg noted that although the front lines in Ukraine have largely been static with one major recent Ukrainian loss, Ukraine has been damaging Russia’s war effort far behind the lines.
“It’s also important to actually recognize that even though the situation on the battlefield is difficult, we should not overestimate Russia and underestimate Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
Ukraine has carried out “deep strikes” in Russian-occupied Crimea and sunk a Russian ship in the Black Sea, he noted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that giving Ukraine F-16s could backfire on NATO nations.
“This seriously risks dragging NATO further into this armed conflict,” Putin said.
“The tanks are burning and the F-16s will burn just as well,” he said, referring to NATO-supplied tanks Ukraine used on the battlefield.
All Ukrainians are waiting for the day when the first Ukrainian F-16s appear in our skies and strengthen the defense of our cities and communities, as well as the capabilities of Ukraine’s Defense Forces. While our pilots and personnel continue their training, I thank the F-16… pic.twitter.com/NgaAtC5x8K
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 23, 2024
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video on X that showed pilots training on Danish F-16s.
“All Ukrainians are waiting for the day when the first Ukrainian F-16s appear in our skies and strengthen the defense of our cities and communities, as well as the capabilities of Ukraine’s Defense Forces. While our pilots and personnel continue their training, I thank the F-16 coalition for bringing this day closer,” he posted.
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