Zelenskyy says how many F-16 fighters Ukraine needs

Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)

Ukraine needs at least 120-130 F-16 fighter jets to resist Russia in the sky, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"Russians are using 300 planes on the territory of Ukraine. We need at least 120, 130 planes to resist in the sky," Zelenskyy said, referring to F-16s.

The President hopes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will use some of the fighter jets in a fight soon.

He also appealed to countries that cannot provide Ukraine with F-16s in the near future.

"You can't provide that right now? OK ... returning to the planes that you have on the territory of neighboring NATO countries: raise them up ... shoot down targets, protect civilians. Can they do this? I'm sure that yes. Is this an attack by NATO countries, involvement? No," said the President.

F-16 for Ukraine

In 2023, an aviation coalition was created under the leadership of the Netherlands and Denmark to provide Ukraine with modern F-16 fighters.

Recently, it became known that the F-16 fighters that Denmark is transferring to Ukraine will be under the control of the Ukrainian Air Force in a few months.