[Regnum] The first American F-16 fighters may appear in Ukraine in just a few weeks, writes the British newspaper Standar, citing an unnamed military source.“The first F-16 fighters to be delivered from the West will arrive in Ukraine within a few weeks,” the publication says.
According to the publication’s interlocutor, the first F-16s should be delivered to Kyiv by June or July. At the same time, the source did not specify which countries will provide Ukraine with fighter jets within this time frame.
As Regnum reported, on April 26, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that deliveries of F-16 fighters to the Kiev regime will begin in 2024. According to him, F-16 squadrons will be transferred to Ukraine along with pilots and maintenance personnel who were trained in the West.
In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Russia will perceive the F-16 fighters transferred to Ukraine as carriers of nuclear weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly noted that the proposed deliveries of F-16s to the Ukrainian Armed Forces will not change the situation in the special operation zone and they will be mercilessly destroyed, like other Western equipment in Ukraine. The head of state noted that American fighters would be a legitimate target for Russia if they were sent against it from airfields in third countries.
Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson said in February that if the Ukrainian Armed Forces use the F-16 fighters promised to Kiev from the airfields of NATO member countries, Russia could destroy them as a legitimate target. The expert noted that when these aircraft are stationed at air bases in Romania and Poland, they will turn into targets for the Russian military.