Our guys are training a lot,
The good news is that we are expecting additional F-16s,
Our partners know that the number of F-16s we have in Ukraine, the number of pilots who have already been trained, is not enough,
We made possible what was our ambition, our defense need, and now — it is a reality in our sky. F-16s in Ukraine,
These jets are in our sky and today you see them,
This decision is probably a difficult one for our partners, as they are always afraid of unnecessary escalation,
In almost two and a half years of this war our Air Force has carried out 22,000 combat flights, and we are increasing the strength of our aircraft. Ukraine now owns advanced efficient air defence systems as well. It is still not enough to fully protect the Ukrainian sky from Russian missiles and drones, but today Ukraine’s air shield is one of the strongest in Europe,
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,
With the acquisition of F-16 aircraft, we will be able to solve a number of problems that are currently hurting Ukraine. These include: Russia's massive missile attacks, its use of guided aerial bombs, and the deployment of S-300 installations in the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv,
They will be able to affect some of the dynamics (of the war),
So many associated issues need to be sorted out,
This is the new stage of development of the air force of Ukraine's armed forces,
We did a lot for Ukrainian forces to transition to a new aviation standard, the Western combat aviation,
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,
We have done a lot to transition the Ukrainian Air Force to a new aviation standard — Western combat aviation. From the beginning of this war, we have been talking with our partners about the need to close the Ukrainian sky from Russian missiles and aircraft,
F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it,
The main threat to them is long-range Russian SAMs (S-400s) and Russian fighters staying inside Russian air space but launching long-range air-to-air missiles into Ukrainian airspace,
We often heard 'it is impossible' as an answer but we still made our ambition, our defensive need, possible,