• President Zelenskiy announces use of U.S.-made fighter planes
    • Ukraine has long waited for the higher-capability jets
    • Kyiv hopes they will change war, Russia vows to shoot them down

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian pilots have started flying F-16s for operations within the nation, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the U.S.-made fighter jets more than 29 months since Russia’s invasion.

  • dactylothecaEnglish
    6•1 month ago

    But the thing is that Ukraine is getting worn down as well, and the longer this drags out the more emboldened Russia will become, not to mention the fact that right now Ukraine doesn’t have the capacity for retaking territory – if the war ends with Russia making territorial gains, you can bet your ass this won’t be the last Russian invasion in Europe in the near future.

    • Flying Squid
      4•1 month ago

      But who could they invade it with? The betting, as I see it, is that they are essentially sacrificing Ukraine to save their own asses. Russia is just running out of people to put on the lines.

      • dactylothecaEnglish
        3•1 month ago

        Russian population growth isn’t 0, though. Yes, the war’s going to make a demographic dent, but they’ve turned their schools into military indoctrination machines

        • Flying Squid
          3•1 month ago

          It isn’t zero but it takes a long time to replace a decimated military. Even if you take conscription down to 16, you can only lose so many people per year before you can’t replace them before they age up quickly enough.