Denmark joins Netherlands in offering F-16 jets to Ukraine as Zelenskyy visits
CTV
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday vowed stern retaliation for a Russian missile strike in the centre of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv that killed seven people and wounded almost 150 others the day before.
The Netherlands and Denmark announced Sunday they will give F-16 warplanes to Ukraine, a long-awaited announcement that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an important motivation for his country's forces, embroiled in a difficult counteroffensive against Russia.
The promise of new fighter jets came the day after an unusually brazen Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian theatre that killed seven people and wounded almost 150 others in the northern city of Chernihiv. Zelenskyy vowed stern retaliation for the attack, whose victims included a slain 6-year-old girl dead and 15 wounded children.
After months of entreaties from Zelenskyy for F-16s to bolster the Ukrainian air force, the U.S. recently gave approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to provide Ukraine the American-made jets. Zelenskyy travelled to both countries Sunday to finalize the delivery deals.
"F-16s will certainly give new energy, confidence, and motivation to fighters and civilians. I'm sure it will deliver new results for Ukraine and the entire Europe,″ the Ukrainian leader said.
Ukraine hopes the jets give it a combat edge, after launching a counteroffensive against the Kremlin's forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.
It's not clear yet how soon the jets will be in Ukrainian hands or in Ukrainian skies. It depends on how soon Ukrainian crews and infrastructure are ready, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said after he and Zelenskyy inspected two gray F-16 jets parked in a hangar at the Dutch base in the southern city of Eindhoven.
"The F-16s will not help immediately now with the war effort. It is anyway a long-term commitment from the Netherlands," the Dutch leader said. "We want them to be active and operational as soon as possible. … Not for the next month, that's impossible, but hopefully soon afterward."
