Ukraine will not receive F-16s this fall and winter – Ihnat

Ukraine will not receive F-16s this fall and winter, said Colonel Yurii Ihnat, Spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force.

“It is already obvious that we will not be able to protect Ukraine with F-16 fighters this autumn and winter. We had high hopes for this aircraft, believing it would become part of air defense and be able to protect us from Russian missile and drone terrorism,” Ihnat said. 

At the same time, the issue of training Ukrainian pilots and engineers on the F-16 “has moved forward”, the spokesman of the Air Force added.

“Our pilots will be trained in the aviation coalition member countries in the near future,” Ihnat said.

Currently, the United States of America and its European allies are working to ensure that Ukrainian pilots start training on fighter jets “as soon as possible,” John Kirby, the US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications. At the same time, there is no new information about the training of Ukrainian pilots, Kirby added.

Ukrainian communities in dozens of countries worldwide call on Ukraine’s partners to provide fighter jets as soon as possible. In particular, the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations promotes the need for the Armed Forces of Ukraine for F-16s at the level of the Australian government, First Vice President of the Ukrainian World Congress and Co-Chair of the AFUO, Stefan Romaniw, previously stated.