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| Ukraine receives fighter planes, parts to bolster air force: Pentagon |
| 2022-04-21 |
| [France24] Ukraine has received fighter planes and aircraft parts to bolster its air force in the face of Russia's invasion, the Pentagon said Tuesday, declining to specify the number of aircraft or their origin. The announcement comes a week after US President Joe Biden unveiled an $800 million military aid package for Kyiv, including heavier equipment such as howitzers, as fighting escalates in eastern Ukraine. The moves indicate a change in attitude in the West, which had initially refused to provide Ukraine with heavy armaments to avoid action Russia could consider direct involvement in the conflict. Ukrainian forces "right now have available to them more fixed-wing fighter aircraft than they did two weeks ago," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday. "Without getting into what other nations are providing, they (Ukrainian forces) have received additional platforms and parts to be able to increase their fleet size," he said. Kirby did not specify the type of aircraft delivered to the Ukrainian military, which had been pleading for warplanes for weeks, but suggested that they were Russian-made. "Other nations who have experience with those kinds of aircraft have been able to help them get more aircraft up and running," Kirby said. He underscored that while the United States had helped with the shipment of some parts, it had "not transported whole aircraft." Kyiv has asked its Western partners to provide MiG-29 fighter jets that its pilots already know how to fly, and which a handful of Eastern European countries have. A possible transfer of such aircraft from Poland was discussed in early March, before the United States poured cold water on the plan, fearing Russia would see it as direct engagement by NATO in the war. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |