[Regnum] Units of American F-16 fighters transferred to Kiev are already operating in the skies over Kharkiv, the Ukrainian publication Strana reported on August 3.
According to Kharkiv volunteer Yuriy Sapronov, the day before he heard an unusual sound three times and barely managed to notice a plane moving very quickly. He explained that he had learned to recognize the sounds of various weapons very well.
"I checked with the military. F-16!" the publication quotes the volunteer as saying.
On July 31, the British newspaper Telegraph reported that Ukrainian pilots had made their first flights on F-16 fighters. Earlier, Bloomberg reported on the arrival of fighters in Ukraine, without specifying the number of aircraft.
The Washington Post reported that only six Ukrainian pilots have been trained to fly the F-16. It was noted that this limits the number of possible daily sorties, and that the F-16 fighters will be threatened by Russian anti-aircraft missile systems located near the front line.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that the supply of F-16s to Ukraine will not change the course of the SVO. The head of state emphasized that the Russian army will destroy these aircraft, as well as all other military equipment supplied by the West.