Zelensky thanks Denmark for pledging to send Ukraine F-16 warplanes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Danish legislators for helping his country resist Russia’s invasion, a day after Denmark and the Netherlands announced they will provide Kyiv with American-made F-16 warplanes that could be delivered around the end of the year.

Mr Zelensky told the legislators that if Russia’s invasion is successful, other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin’s military aggression.

He said in Copenhagen: “All of Russia’s neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail.”

Mr Zelensky portrays Ukraine as defending Western values of freedom and democracy against tyranny. He has argued that Ukraine needs to be properly provisioned to fend off Russia’s much bigger force.

Ukraine has been pressing its Western allies for months to give it F-16s. Its armed forces are still using aging Soviet-era combat planes from the 1970s and 80s, and its counter-offensive against Russian positions is advancing without air support, which analysts say is a major handicap.

Mr Zelensky said on Telegram that Ukraine would get 42 jets. Denmark pledged 19 F-16s, which could be delivered around the end of the year when pilot training lasting four to six months is completed.

However, getting Ukrainian squadrons battle-ready could take much longer. US Air Force Gen James Hecker, commander of US air forces in Europe and Africa, said last week that he did not expect the F-16s to be a game-changer for Ukraine. He added that getting F-16 squadrons ready for battle could take “four or five years”.

Training Ukrainian pilots is just one of the challenges in the anticipated deployment of F-16s.

Questions also remain over who will carry out crucial aircraft maintenance, the supply of spare parts and what weapons the West will supply to arm the fighter jets.

The United States last week announced its approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver the F-16s. That is needed because the aircraft are made in the United States.

On Sunday, Mr Zelensky visited the Netherlands and inspected two grey F-16s parked in a hangar at a Dutch base in the southern city of Eindhoven together with Mr Rutte.

The Dutch leader did not provide a number or timeframe for deliveries, saying it depends on how soon Ukrainian crews and infrastructure are ready.

Mr Zelensky started his trip Saturday in Sweden, where he asked Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for Swedish Gripen fighter jets. Sweden has said it will allow Ukrainian pilots to test the planes but has not made any commitments to hand them over.

Mr Kristersson said on Monday that Sweden needs the Gripen planes for its own defence, noting that the country’s bid to join Nato has not been finalised.

“We don’t rule anything out in the future,” he told the TV4 channel. “We will do everything we can to support them also with aircraft. But right now there are no new commitments to provide Swedish aircraft to Ukraine.”

On Monday, Russian air defences jammed a Ukrainian drone west of Moscow and shot down another one on the outskirts of the city, the Kremlin said.

Two people were injured and one of them was taken to hospital when drone fragments fell on a private house, according to Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region.

Such drone attacks have become an almost daily occurrence in Russia in recent weeks.

Also, Russian rail officials said that a relay cabinet used to run train traffic was set ablaze on the outskirts of Moscow, causing delays, according to the state RIA Novosti news agency.

Russian authorities have reported multiple similar incidents across the country, some of which have been blamed on acts of sabotage encouraged by Ukrainian security agencies.

In Ukraine, at least four civilians were killed and 25 others wounded by the latest Russian attacks, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

The dead included a 71-year-old man killed by Russian shelling in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, near the border with Russia.