Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets made their combat debut on Monday, shooting down Russian cruise missiles and drones, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“The F-16s a very good result. We repelled some missiles and drones using F-16s during this huge attack. And we are grateful to our partners for supplying us with the F-16s. Of course, this is not enough, we only have a few of them, and we have to additionally train the pilots.”
The Ukrainian Air Force received its first F-16s in early August, aircraft that were previously flying in Denmark.
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Armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, the Lockheed Martin fighters are apparently being used for air defense, but could be used for ground attacks.
Ukraine said it shot down 102 missiles and 99 drones out of 236 air weapons launched by Russia.
The government said the Aug. 26 strike was the worst in the 29-month conflict, hitting Kiev and other cities.
The air force is expected to receive about 85 second-hand F-16s from the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Denmark in the coming months.
