Ukraine has given up hope of receiving US-made F-16 fighter jets this year, after spending months pressing Western allies to deliver the advanced aircraft to defend against Russia's invasion.
"It is obvious that we won't be able to defend Ukraine this autumn and winter with the F-16s," air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian television.
"There was great hope for this aircraft to become part of our air defence and protect us against missile and drone terror from Russia," he said.
One bit of progress, at least, was that Ukrainian pilots and technicians could start training on the jets "in the near future", Ihnat was quoted as saying by Ukrainian media.
NATO members Netherlands and Denmark are leading an 11-nation coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on the Western fighter jets.
The effort was launched in May at the G7 summit in Japan - but the training does not mean that F-16s will actually be delivered. Not one country has committed to sending them to Ukraine so far.
Aircraft from stocks in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Norway could also be handed over at a later date. However, the promised training has not yet been organized between the parties involved.
Ukrainian troops currently involved in a counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory are suffering from a lack of air cover.
In other military news, the controversial Ukrainian National Guard brigade Azov has been reorganized and is back on the frontlines fighting Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, according to Kiev.
"The legendary special brigade Azov has begun combat operations in the area of the Serebryanka forest," said Colonel Mykola Urshalovych, who is responsible for the National Guard's operational planning, according to a statement on Thursday.
Serebryanka is in the eastern Luhansk region. The brigade also includes an artillery unit, according to the statement.
The volunteer unit, founded by right-wing extremists in 2014, has long served Russian propaganda as an example of alleged "Nazi rule" in Ukraine. Moscow had also justified its invasion of Ukraine more than 17 months ago by saying it is "denazifying" its neighbour.
During the fighting around the port city of Mariupol, the former Azov regiment was encircled and the survivors were taken prisoner by the Russians. Most of the severely wounded were later exchanged for captured Russians.
Several Azov officers handed over to Turkey by Russia returned home in early July after a visit to Turkey by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the original agreement, they were to remain in Turkey until the end of the war. Russia criticized the fighters' return to Ukraine as a breach of the agreement.
Meanwhile, looking ahead to the coming winter months, the British Ministry of Defence said in its daily intelligence update on the war that "Ukrainian efforts to build up fuel stockpiles will likely be successful."
"Ukraine has been effective in mobilising its mining sector to maintain output, ensuring a continuous supply of coal is available for thermal power and heating plants in the winter, with substantial gas stocks providing a further reserve," the ministry said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Last winter, Moscow's forces repeatedly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving thousands of households without electricity or heating for days on end amid freezing temperatures.
