Volodymyr Zelensky today hailed the “inspiring” decision by the Netherlands and Denmark to provide Ukraine with dozens of F-16 fighter jets.
The Ukrainian president has been seeking the US-made advanced jets for months in a bid to bolster his air force in its fight against Vladimir Putin’s forces in the east.
Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen said her country would provide 19 jets between now and 2025.
Dutch premier Mark Rutte did not put a number on his country’s donation, but said the Netherlands had 42 of the planes. Mr Zelensky hailed the decision as “absolutely historic, powerful, and inspiring for us”, when he visited an air force base in Eindhoven yesterday.
Today he addressed the Danish parliament, warning that if Russia’s invasion was successful in Ukraine, other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin’s aggression.
“All of Russia’s neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail,” he said.
The F-16s will not be transferred until Ukrainian pilots and ground crew are properly trained, a process that takes around 10 months. It came as Ukraine recaptured territory and pushed back Putin’s forces in eastern Ukraine, a deputy defence minister said today.
Hanna Maliar said more than a square mile had been liberated on the eastern front over the past week and Ukrainian forces were advancing south of Bakhmut, the city occupied by Russian forces in May after months of brutal fighting. However Kyiv’s counter offensive remains slow in many areas. Russia has been attacking towards Kupiansk, a town in the Kharkiv region and Ms Maliar said the situation in and around there was “difficult”.
“The enemy is pulling up additional forces,” she said in a national television broadcast. “We are confident in our defenders, but it is very difficult for them there and the enemy is not advancing there.” Eleven people were injured, including seven left in critical condition, after Russian forces shelled Kupiansk yesterday, governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
This came after seven people, including a six-year-old named Sofia, were killed when a Russian missile struck a theatre in the northern city of Chernihiv on Saturday morning.
The UN called the attack “heinous”.
