Even as ceasefire talks continue, Ukraine could be in a slightly better bargaining position, as it received an additional batch of U.S.-made F-16 Fighting Falcons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the jets’ arrival on Wednesday while dismissing claims that many of the previously provided aircraft had been shot down.
“Additional F-16s have arrived in Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his latest Zoom briefing. “The Russians are lying when they say they shot something down, they shot nothing down, and the good news is that several F-16 fighter jets have arrived in Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian leader didn’t confirm the number of jets delivered this month or from which country they came, but Kyiv is believed to have around three dozen F-16s now in service. Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway have pledged around ninty multirole fighters to aid the war effort.
The Fighting Falcon was among the Western military platforms Kyiv repeatedly said would be necessary to counter the Kremlin’s forces.
Russian Disinformation on the Fighting Falcon
Since the first F-16s arrived in Ukraine last August, Russia has claimed on numerous occasions to have shot down the aircraft. One was lost just weeks after the Fighting Falcons entered service in Ukraine, but pilot error, likely due to a lack of training, is believed to have been the leading factor.
In December 2024, the first American-made F-16 Fighting Falcon was downed over southeastern Ukraine. It was the first loss of a Western-supplied fixed-wing aircraft in the now more than three-year-long conflict.
This week, the Ukrainian Air Force dismissed new claims by Russian media that another F-16 had been downed over the Sumy region of the northeast region earlier this week. Russian military bloggers have claimed on the Telegram social messaging app that Russian forces had succeeded in shooting down the fighter.
While the pro-Kremlin propagandists have been critical of the handling of the war, without criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, and have acknowledged Russia’s losses, they have increasingly spread misinformation/disinformation related to Kyiv’s losses.
In addition, “Russian propagandists continue to spread disinformation about alleged crimes committed by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region,” Ukrinform reported.
Is the Fighting Falcon Training Being Rushed?
Even as the additional Fighting Falcons are now in Ukraine, the question is whether there are enough skilled pilots to fly the warbirds. As previously reported, Kyiv has been exploring how to truncate the training time for the F-16s.
“The basic training program needs to be optimized. This will enable us to train more pilots to defend our country,” Deputy Defence Minister Serhiy Melnkyk stated in a briefing at the end of last year.
“Ukrainian combat aviation must eventually gain air superiority, as this paves the way for the success of our actions on the front line.”
Currently, Ukrainian aviators are trained on the F-16 in the UK and Romania, where Lockheed Martin set up a training facility last year to aid NATO efforts.
Fighting Falcon and Other Western Fighters Set to Arrive
In addition to the F-16s, NATO member France has pledged to send an undisclosed number of Mirage 2000s to aid Kyiv, and the first of those multirole fighters arrived last month.
“These modern combat aircraft have already arrived in Ukraine and will soon begin carrying out combat missions, strengthening our defense and enhancing our ability to counter Russian aggression effectively,” Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov told reporters soon after the first batch of French aircraft arrived.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: at [email protected].
Image: Shutterstock/ Kostas Alkousis.
