Ukraine to Get Its First F-16 Jets in June-July

FILE PHOTO: A general view of an F-16, on the day of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of an F-16, on the day of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
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Ukraine to Get Its First F-16 Jets in June-July

FILE PHOTO: A general view of an F-16, on the day of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of an F-16, on the day of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

Kyiv expects to receive its first F-16 fighter jets from its Western allies in June-July, a high-ranking Ukrainian military source said on Friday.

Ukraine has sought US-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russia's air superiority for more than two years of war. The source did not say which country would supply the jets.

So far, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium have committed to sending F-16s to Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Illya Yevlash, spokesperson for the air force, said this week that some Ukrainian pilots were completing their training to fly the warplanes.

The Ukrainian military has had to rely on a relatively small fleet of Soviet-era jets as it has fought to hold back Russia's full-scale February 2022 invasion.

With Russian forces slowly advancing in the eastern Donbas region and mounting a fresh assault in the northeast near the city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials see the addition of the F-16 as a vital upgrade for its Air Force.



Russia Launches Scores of Drones on Kyiv, Other Ukrainian Regions

 In this image taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, Russian 120mm mortar crew change a position after firing toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this image taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, Russian 120mm mortar crew change a position after firing toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Russia Launches Scores of Drones on Kyiv, Other Ukrainian Regions

 In this image taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, Russian 120mm mortar crew change a position after firing toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this image taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, Russian 120mm mortar crew change a position after firing toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia launched a series of drone and missile attacks overnight targeting Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, igniting a fire at an industrial facility in the western Ukrainian region of Ternopil, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

By 0440 GMT, Russia launched some 136 attack drones targeting Ukraine and three missiles, with Ukraine's air defense destroying 51 of the drones, Ukraine's air force said on the Telegram messaging app.

Twenty of the drones were still in Ukrainian skies while 60 were unaccounted for, possibly intercepted by Ukraine's warfare, the air force said.

Most of Ukraine was under air raid alerts Wednesday morning, with the Kyiv region remaining under alert since 1730 GMT on Tuesday, according to military data. The air force said Russia was launching drones in several waves and in different directions.

The 51 drones were destroyed over 14 Ukrainian regions, including the Kyiv region.

It was not clear what happened to the three missiles.

The "large-scale fire" in the Ternopil region has since extinguished, but it involved 46 fire fighters and 12 units of special equipment to put it out, the military administration of the region said on the Telegram messaging app.

"There were no injuries," the administration added.

It was not immediately clear what facility was on fire.

All drones targeting Kyiv earlier in the night were destroyed and there were no reports of damage or injuries, but there was fresh risk of attacks, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration said on Telegram.