Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hands over the flag of a military unit on the occasion of the Air Forces Day against the background of Ukraine’s Air Force’s F-16 fighter jets in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Sunday, August 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday (August 27, 2024) that his military deployed Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to down drones and missiles that Russia fired in recent attacks.

Mr. Zelenskyy announced earlier this month that Ukraine had received the first batch of the fighter jets promised by Western countries, declining to say how many had been delivered.

“We destroyed already some missiles and drones using the F-16,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in English at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday (August 27, 2024).

He said at the press conference that Ukraine still needed more of the jets.

He told the media in May that Kyiv needed at least 120 to achieve “parity” with Russia.

For more than two years, Ukraine had pleaded with its Western partners for the aircraft — long considered the crown jewel in the sprawling list of military hardware Kyiv has sought.