Zelensky thankful for U.S.-supplied F-16s, but still wants more

09/06/2024 / By Belle Carter

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently bragged about using the Western-supplied F-16s for the first time to shoot down rockets when Russia launched a retaliatory strike last week.

“The F-16 [had] a good result… As part of this enormous Russian missile attack [on Monday] we shot down some of the rockets with the help of F-16s,” Zelensky said.

According to reports, the Ukrainian Air Force deployed the American-made fighter jets when Russia unleashed what the rulers in Kyiv described as “one of the largest combined strikes” since the start of the conflict in February 2022.

The Russian Defense Ministry described the “massive high-precision attack” against Ukraine as being carried out using long-range air- and sea-based weapons, as well as drones. It targeted energy facilities supporting Ukraine’s defense industrial complex in particular, as well as several airfields storing Western-supplied air munitions, officials said.

“All the designated targets have been hit,” the statement by Russia read.

Though claiming to have fought back and shot down Russian rockets using F-16s, Zelensky seemed unsatisfied, claiming that the number of warplanes provided by the West so far is still insufficient. He was thankful for the F-16s but still wants more.

He focused here more than losing one of his top fighter pilots who died when an F-16 crashed during the mission. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Lt. Col. Oleksii Mes, whose callsign was “Moonfish,” had been killed in combat during the same Russian attack. One person briefed on the F-16 crash said it appeared the aircraft was not downed by enemy fire.

Mes “fought heroically in his last battle,” the air force said, adding he had destroyed three cruise missiles and a suicide drone during the operation. He was part of the first group of Ukrainian pilots to train in F-16s and he also played a crucial role in lobbying for the fighter jets during a visit to the United States in 2022.

The F-16s were approaching a target when “contact with one of the aircraft was lost,” the statement indicated. “As it turned out later, the plane crashed and the pilot died.”

A special commission has been opened to investigate the possible causes of the F-16 crash. These range from pilot and mechanical error to friendly fire, according to the person with knowledge of the incident.

Dozens of Russian projectiles were shot down but several of the more than 200 on Monday, Sept. 2, and 90 on the next day struck their targets, causing rolling blackouts across the country and exacerbating Kyiv’s power shortages.

Last year, North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states U.S., France, Bulgaria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Sweden+ pledged to donate the aircraft to Kyiv.

Earlier this month, Zelensky confirmed on his Telegram channel the arrival of the first U.S.-made F-16s but did not reveal the numbers. He touted the aircraft as being capable of delivering “exactly such combat results that will bring our victory closer – our just peace for Ukraine.” (Related: Russian official warns U.S. will face WORSE CONSEQUENCES for backing Ukraine’s strikes on Kursk.)

Russian attack kills 7 in Lviv as Ukrainian foreign minister steps down

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday, Sept. 4, submitted his resignation ahead of an expected major government reshuffle amid sustained Russian drone and missile strikes, which reportedly left seven people dead in Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine.

Zelensky indicated last week that a reshuffle was imminent, with the war poised to enter a critical stage, and as its 1,000-day mark looms in November.

Kuleba didn’t give a reason for stepping down. His resignation will be discussed by lawmakers at their next session, Parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on his Facebook page. Four other Cabinet ministers tendered their resignations late Tuesday, Sept. 3.

In July, Kuleba became the highest-ranking Ukrainian official to visit China since Russia’s invasion. He has been foreign minister since March 2020. His successor is not yet known but is expected to be announced on Thursday. Several Ukrainian media outlets, citing unnamed sources, said Kuleba’s deputy, Andrii Sybiha, would become the country’s chief diplomat.

The new foreign minister will likely accompany Zelensky to the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, which is an opportunity to lobby global leaders for their support.

Zelensky said that Ukraine needs “new energy, and that includes diplomacy.” He said during a Kyiv news conference with visiting Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris that he couldn’t announce any replacements yet because he didn’t know whether the candidates would accept his invitation to join the government.

The Ukrainian army’s risky incursion almost a month ago into Russia’s Kursk border region raised Ukrainian spirits. The incursion’s ultimate goals are unclear, though Zelensky said Ukraine wants to create a buffer zone there that would prevent cross-border Russian attacks.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said late Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Russia “can slowly and indefinitely subsume Ukraine through grinding advances and that Russia can achieve its goals through a war of attrition against Ukrainian forces and by outlasting Western support” for Kyiv.

Head over to UkraineWitness.com for more updates on the situation in Ukraine.

Watch the video below that talks about Kyiv losing a U.S.-supplied warplane amid Russian strikes.

This video is from the Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

Zelensky thankful for U.S.-supplied F-16s, but still wants more

Russian attack kills 7 in Lviv as Ukrainian foreign minister steps down

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