Ukraine expects fighter jets to be deployed next spring

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he expects the state-of-the-art F-16 fighter jets supplied by Ukraine's allies to be deployed against Russia by next spring.

In an interview with the Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform published on Sunday, the minister said that pilots had to be trained on the jets, and infrastructure, experts and maintenance facilities had to be upkept.

It would therefore likely only be spring before the aircraft are actually deployed on the front lines.

The Netherlands, Denmark and Norway have all promised Ukraine the jets.

Reznikov said he had to write several letters with assurances that these NATO weapons would be used for defence purposes only and not on Russian territory.

Russia has warned that the jets will lead the coflict to escalate further.

So far, Ukraine has been guaranteed at least 50 aircraft. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently called for a total of 160 F-16s, to regain sovereignty over its airspace.

Several countries are training up Ukrainian pilots.