Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday evening welcomed the “historic” decision by the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver a total of 61 American F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, two days after the American green light on the subject.
“Our fighters will receive 42 super fighter planes” from the Netherlands, wrote the head of state on X (ex-Twitter) thanking Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
These 42 aircraft are in addition to the 19 announced by Denmark. Here is the summary of the day.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte formalized the delivery of Dutch F-16s to Ukraine during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to a Dutch Air Force base in Eindhoven, southern Netherlands . “The Netherlands and Denmark are committed to transferring F-16s to Ukraine once the conditions for such a transfer are met,” he said. “The third point for today is absolutely historic, powerful and inspiring for us. This is another step towards strengthening Ukraine’s air shield,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived on Sunday at a Dutch air force base in Eindhoven. His visit to the southern Netherlands comes two days after the United States gave the go-ahead for that country to supply American F-16 fighter jets to kyiv.
Dutch F-16s “for Ukraine to protect our people from Russian terror” are the main focus of the visit according to the Ukrainian president. President Zelensky was to see some of the F-16s stationed in Eindhoven, according to a Dutch military spokesman.
“We are getting stronger,” he added before a one-on-one with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Mr. Zelensky landed in Dutch territory around 12:00 local time, accompanied by Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska, the day after a deadly strike by Moscow forces in the heart of Cherniguiv, northern Ukraine and a few hours later a new Ukrainian drone attack targeting Moscow and its region according to Russia.
Volodymyr Zelensky was welcomed in the afternoon by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen. During this visit, they examined F-16s and took stock of the start of training for Ukrainian pilots, said the office of the Danish Prime Minister.
“We know you need more (military equipment, editor’s note) and that is (…) why we are going to donate 19 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine”, Mette Frederiksen announced during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart.
These planes will be delivered gradually to kyiv: six towards the end of the year, eight next year and five the following year, said the head of government.
“This is very powerful support for us,” Zelensky said at the same press conference, pointing out that the training of Ukrainian pilots and engineers had already started in Denmark.
Moscow said on Sunday that it had foiled a Ukrainian drone attack targeting Moscow and its region, the second in two days, at a time when this type of assault on Russian soil is on the rise as part of the counter-offensive. forces from Kyiv. “Around 4 a.m. an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack by a drone on infrastructure in Moscow and the Moscow region was foiled,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“There were no casualties or damage,” he added. The drone was flying “in the direction of Moscow”, the Russian capital, assured the Russian army, specifying that the machine “crashed in an uninhabited area”. “Thank you to the military for their work” of interception, greeted the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, on Telegram. Flights to Vnukovo and Domodedovo international airports had been “temporarily restricted” overnight, Russian transport agency Rosaviatsia quoted Ria Novosti news agency as saying, before a rapid return “to the normal “.
The Moscow region is not the only one to have been targeted overnight from Saturday to Sunday by drones. According to the governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, a drone “crashed on the roof of the station, after which a fire broke out”. “It was extinguished at 3:46 a.m.” “The roof, the facade and the first platform were damaged. In addition, following the shock wave, there is damage in the waiting room and the pedestrian tunnel,” he lamented on Telegram. Mr. Starovoit, responsible for this region located on the border with Ukraine, assured that 50 people were on the scene at the time of the attack. “Five people were slightly injured by shards of glass,” three of whom were “sent for hospital examinations,” he said.
Further south, and still close to Ukraine, in the Rostov region, “two drones” were intercepted by Russian anti-aircraft defense, regional governor Vasily Golubev announced. “[They] fell on the territory of one military unit in Kamensk, the other, a kilometer north of Novochakhtinsk,” he said, without giving further details of the targets. “There are no casualties or damage,” he said.
