kyiv could send some of the aircraft to foreign bases to protect them from Russian offensives

▲ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Air Force Day ceremony yesterday in Ukraine with a fighter jet F-16at the bottom.Afp Photo

Ap

The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, August 5, 2024, p. 30

Somewhere in Ukraine., Fighter jets F-16 The newly arrived aircraft were displayed yesterday by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the aircraft would bolster the country’s military efforts against Russia.

These planes are in our skies and today you see themZelensky said, standing in front of two of the jets as two others flew across the sky in close formation. It’s good that they are here and that we can use them..

Ukraine is also trying to get neighbouring countries to help it defend itself against Russian missiles, Zelensky said.

This is probably a difficult decision for our partners, as they always fear unnecessary escalation.the Ukrainian president said. “We will work on it… I think a good option for us is to create a council between NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and Ukraine… so that NATO nations can talk to Ukraine about the possibility of a small coalition of neighboring countries to shoot down enemy missiles.”

Two planes F-16bearing the Ukrainian trident insignia on their tails and covered in camouflage netting, provided the backdrop for Zelensky’s speech on Air Force Day, an event held under strict security measures and at an undisclosed location to protect the fighter jets from Russian attacks.

Since the beginning of this war, we have talked with our partners about the need to protect the Ukrainian sky from Russian missiles and aircraft.Zelensky said. “We now have a new reality in our skies. The F-16 They are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our guys, who have mastered these aircraft and have already started using them for our country… Our combat aviation will bring us closer to victory.”

Ukraine could keep some of the F-16 in foreign bases to protect them against Russian attacks, according to a senior Ukrainian military official.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow could consider launching strikes against facilities in NATO countries if they host fighter jets used in Ukraine.

In this context, the Ukrainian authorities assured that they sank a class submarine Kilo and attacked an anti-aircraft missile complex S-400 on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Moscow reported that Ukrainian drones hit a residential building, leaving one dead in Morozovsk, Rostov region.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a woman was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a residential building in the town of Shebekino.

Over the past month, Russia has seen an increase in the pace of Ukrainian drone and long-range attacks targeting Russian military infrastructure such as airfields and fuel depots. Analysts say Ukraine needs the increase to erode Russia’s capabilities.

For its part, the Malian military junta announced the breaking of relations with Ukraine after the spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Andrei Yusov, admitted that Kiev was collaborating with the Tuareg rebels in northern Mali who recently carried out one of the bloodiest episodes of the conflict by killing 47 soldiers and 84 mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group.