“It’s already become a meme”: Russians claim to have destroyed F-16s that are not yet in Ukraine – Ignat
Russia announced the alleged downing of F-16 fighters in Odesa, which are not yet in Ukraine.
This was reported the Center for Countering Disinformation on Telegram on December 25.
The Russian Telegram channel noted that three planes were allegedly destroyed in Odesa.
Twitter user X with the nickname Pulse of Ukraine reported that the enemy claimed to have shot down six F-16s in Odesa.
The Russian Telegram channel Condottiero stated that Russian Shahed UAVs allegedly overwhelmed Ukrainian air defenses in Odesa and Kherson regions, and then missiles imitating bomber aircraft revealed the location of the NASAMS system. After that, the Onyx and Daggers missiles allegedly “did their job.”
In addition, the enemy said that the next target would allegedly be the AVAKS long-range radar detection and control system, which, according to the Russians, was guiding the SAMs to “dry out.”
The reaction of the Ukrainian side
During the telethon, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat emphasized that Russian reports of the alleged downing of the F-16 are comforting. According to him, the Russian Defense Ministry reports that the enemy “destroys” five Ukrainian aircraft each. In particular, there are “memes” about the F-16.
“I think that by the end of the day there will be more (reports of F-16s being shot down – ed.). And by the end of the year, they will have completed “this difficult year” with at least two squadrons,” Ihnat said.
He noted that people want to believe that these planes are in Ukraine, so “the enemy believed and the enemy is “destroying” them.
In addition, Ihnat said that there is confirmation from Western partners that they are ready to send fighter jets.
“We are in the process. In addition to pilots, we need infrastructure and engineers. We have discussed this many times. That’s why our partners have said they are ready to transfer it,” he added.
As a reminder, on December 22, analysts of the Institute for the Study of War said that Ukraine could receive the first batch of F-16 fighters by the end of this year. Estonian Defense Ministry documents say that the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium have committed to deliver the fighters by the end of December.
