Realizing their obligations in providing military assistance to Ukraine, its Western partners began providing modern 4th generation F-16 fighters.
In particular, the government of the Netherlands decided to prepare for the transfer of 18 F-16 fighters to Ukraine. This information was officially confirmed on social networks by Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Commenting on the decision of his government, M. Rutte said that the transfer of the F-16 was one of the most important parts of the agreements reached by the West on military support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. He assured that the Netherlands would strengthen support for Ukraine on its EU path. The Netherlands will do everything to adopt the new agreements on the European integration of Ukraine at the meeting of the European Council in February next year, he added.
Although the exact time for such delivery is clearly unknown, but according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukraine may receive fighters by the end of this year. The exact timing of deliveries depends on countries such as Denmark and Portugal, which are engaged in training technical and support staff to service the F-16 in Ukraine, but these issues seem to be solved successfully and on time. This was announced by the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry R. Umerov, who held relevant negotiations with his colleagues from these countries this week.
The decision to transfer modern combat aircraft to Ukraine caused a sharp, negative reaction from the Russian Federation, as saying that these airfields would become a legitimate target for the Russian army if the F-16 fighters transferred to Ukraine were taking off from airfields of Western countries. But everyone understands that these threats are empty words of the Putin regime, which is inevitable losing in the war. Therefore, military support for Ukraine from the West will continue and be more substantive.
Along with this, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to destroy Russian combat aircraft on their own. In particular, in just one day, on December 22, the Ukrainian military carried out a brilliant operation, as a result of which 3 ultra-modern Russian Su-34 fighter jets were destroyed on the left bank of the Kherson region, while in total, during the fighting in Ukraine, the Russian air force lost 327 aircraft.