Ukraine received an additional batch of F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Thursday.
Umerov did not specify the number of jets, nor exactly when they had arrived in Ukraine. He also did not specify if the aircraft had arrived within the same timeframe as French Mirage 2000 jets, which reportedly arrived on Thursday.
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“The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has received a long-awaited reinforcement – the first French Mirage 2000 and F-16 fighters from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
“These modern combat vehicles are already in Ukraine and will soon begin performing combat missions, strengthening our defense and ability to effectively resist Russian aggression,” Umerov said, as quoted by a Ministry of Defense update on Thursday afternoon.
The Netherlands had previously committed to delivering 24 F-16s in total to Ukraine. While the exact number of F-16s fielded by Ukraine is classified, Kyiv is believed to have deployed around 10 of them.
The Netherlands previously confirmed that Ukraine can use its F-16s over Russian territory, provided it adheres to international humanitarian law. However, the fighters have only been used on air defense sorties to date, with no reported use in their ground attack role.
Earlier on Thursday, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that an unspecified number of Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft had arrived in Ukraine ahead of the planned schedule, alongside Ukrainian pilots who underwent months-long training on the Mirages in France.
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In October 2023, Lecornu mentioned that the Mirage 2000s were receiving updates at the Cazaux Air Base in southwest France, where they were equipped with new electronic warfare (EW) systems and air-to-ground attack capabilities.
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