Ukrainian President Zelenskyy thanks Denmark for pledging to send F-16s for use against Russia's invading forces

AP

Copenhagen, August 21

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Danish lawmakers on Monday for helping his country resist Russia's invasion, a day after Denmark and the Netherlands announced they will provide Kyiv with American-made F-16 warplanes that could be delivered around the end of the year.

Zelenskyy told the lawmakers that if Russia's invasion is successful, other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin's military aggression. “All of Russia's neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail,” he said in a speech in Copenhagen.

Zelenskyy portrays Ukraine as defending Western values of freedom and democracy against tyranny. He has argued that Ukraine needs to be properly provisioned to fend off Russia's much bigger force.

Ukraine has been pressing its Western allies for months to give it F-16s. Its armed forces are still using aging Soviet-era combat planes from the 1970s and '80s, and its counteroffensive against Russian positions is advancing without air support, which analysts say is a major handicap.

Zelenskyy said on Telegram that Ukraine would get 42 jets. Denmark pledged 19 F-16s, which could be delivered around the end of the year when pilot training lasting four to six months is completed.

However, getting Ukrainian squadrons battle-ready could take much longer.

US Air Force Gen. James Hecker, commander of US air forces in Europe and Africa, said last week that he did not expect the F-16s to be a game-changer for Ukraine. Getting F-16 squadrons ready for battle could take “four or five years,” he said.

While some training has already begun for Ukrainian pilots, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Sunday it's just language lessons so far.

Training Ukrainian pilots is just one of the challenges in the anticipated deployment of F-16s. Questions also remain over who will carry out crucial aircraft maintenance, the supply of spare parts and what weapons the West will supply to arm the fighter jets.

The United States last week announced its approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver the F-16s. That is needed because the aircraft are made in the United States.

On Sunday, Zelenskyy visited the Netherlands and inspected two gray F-16s parked in a hangar at a Dutch base in the southern city of Eindhoven together with Rutte.

Rutte didn't provide a number or timeframe for deliveries, saying it depends on how soon Ukrainian crews and infrastructure are ready.

Zelenskyy started his trip Saturday in Sweden, where he asked Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for Swedish Gripen fighter jets.

Sweden has said it will allow Ukrainian pilots to test the planes but has not made any commitments to hand them over.

Kristersson said Monday that Sweden needs the Gripen planes for its own defence, noting that the country's bid to join NATO has not been finalised.

“We don't rule anything out in the future,” he told the TV4 channel. “We will do everything we can to support them also with aircraft. But right now there are no new commitments to provide Swedish aircraft to Ukraine.”

On Monday, Russian air defences jammed a Ukrainian drone west of Moscow and shot down another one on the outskirts of the city, Russia's Defence Ministry said.

Two people were injured and one of them was hospitalised when drone fragments fell on a private house, Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said.

Such drone attacks have become an almost daily occurrence in Russia in recent weeks.

Russian authorities have reported multiple similar incidents across the country, some of which have been blamed on acts of sabotage encouraged by Ukrainian security agencies.

In Ukraine, at least four civilians were killed and 25 others wounded by the latest Russian attacks, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

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