Second batch of F-16 fighters from Denmark arrives in Ukraine
The second batch of Danish F-16 fighters has already arrived in Ukraine, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The first batch of warplanes provided by the Danes are already shooting down Russian missiles and defending Ukrainian infrastructure.
"Now our air shield is additionally strengthened. If all partners were just that determined, it would have been possible to make Russian terror impossible," the president stated.
In total, Denmark promised to provide Ukraine with 19 fighter jets, of which 6 were delivered earlier. The remaining 13 planes were promised to be delivered in two batches.
As previously reported by the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, the country has been participating in the training of Ukrainian pilots for these planes since last August. According to the premier, it was difficult to organize it, but Denmark managed to do it.
F-16s’ journey to Ukraine
Back in May 2023, US President Joe Biden approved plans to train Ukrainian pilots on American F-16 fighter jets. Subsequently, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium announced that they would hand over aircraft to Ukraine, in particular for exercises to be held in Denmark and Romania.
The first group of Ukrainian pilots completed training in the US in May this year, and Denmark trained 50 Ukrainian F-16 maintenance specialists.
In July, former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the promise of the appearance of the F-16 in the Ukrainian skies in the summer of 2024 "has already been fulfilled", although there was no official confirmation of the arrival at that time.
Subsequently, Bloomberg reported the arrival of the first fighter jets, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed this a few days later. In August, it was officially announced that the F-16 had already been deployed to repulse Russian air attacks.