How can F-16s help Ukraine fight Russia?

It was a pivotal moment for Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy watched two F-16 fighter jets roar overhead, after many months of waiting for the combat aircraft that Kyiv hopes will change the dial in the war against Russia.

Flanked by another two of the U.S.-made combat aircraft, Zelenskyy announced on Sunday that the country’s air force had already started operations using the warplanes against Russia.

“F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our guys who are mastering these jets and have already started using them for our country,” he said, speaking to military pilots and reporters at an undisclosed location in Ukraine.

“These jets are in our sky and today you see them,” Zelenskyy added, thanking Ukraine’s allies for the supply during the unveiling ceremony on Ukraine’s Air Forces Day. “It’s good that they are here and that we can put them to use.”

A number of Ukraine’s European allies have pledged to send F-16s to Ukraine, and the first batch arrived in the country in late July. It remains uncertain how many of the combat planes were sent to Ukraine.

On Sunday, Zelenskyy did not specify the number of jets that had already been delivered, but said that more were expected. He also conceded that more pilots needed to be trained to use them.

The arrival of the first combat aircraft in Ukraine nonetheless marks a notable achievement — Kyiv repeatedly requested the aircraft from allies over many months of the war. It has awaited U.S. approval for the export of F-16s from allies willing to transfer them to Ukraine, and then the training of Ukrainian pilots to use the aircraft has also taken months.

Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway have agreed to send around 80 aircraft to Ukraine, although the timeline for their delivery varies. Most are not expected until 2025.

U.S. secretary of State Antony Blinken said in July that F-16s from Denmark and the Netherlands would be ‘in Ukraine’s skies this summer.’

Ukraine has lobbied its NATO allies for F-16s since the early days of the the war against Russia, arguing that the jets will enable it to better defend its air space, ground troops and critical infrastructure from Russian attack, as well as to strike enemy targets more effectively.

Russia has dismissed the supply of F-16s, with Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying last Thursday that Russian forces were prepared to shoot down the F-16 jets.

“There is no ‘magic pill’ here. There is no panacea,” he told reporters last Thursday, according to russian state news agency Tasss.

“The armed forces of the Kyiv regime will…