This should be taken as normal – Ukraine's Air Force spokesperson about losses and effectiveness of F-16 jets
Source: Yurii Ihnat in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda (translation is coming soon)
Quote from Yurii Ihnat: "We have seen reports about the loss of aircraft – this should be taken as normal. Unfortunately, there are losses in the war, including F-16s. With such intense fighting, it is clear that there can be losses. We are building up [the capabilities]."
Details: Ihnat noted that the Air Force of Ukraine received F-16 fighters that were already in use. However, even in this condition, these aircraft are much more effective than the Soviet weapons that Ukraine used to employ.
Ihnat stressed that the aircraft's combat effectiveness depends not only on the platform itself but also on the radar it is equipped with and the missiles it can use.
"An aircraft is a platform. Then, it is important to know what is under its wings and what kind of radar it has.
The radar has to see far away; the missile has to fly far away, accurately. At the final stage of flight, it's a matter of firing and not keeping track of it. The active homing head should look for the Russian aircraft itself, etc."
However, the colonel said, Russia currently maintains an advantage in target detection range, and its missiles have a longer range than the F-16. In addition, Russian aviation operates in close cooperation with powerful air defence systems.
Ihnat also noted that before the arrival of the F-16s, the ratio of forces in the air was approximately one to ten, not in favour of Ukraine. He compared the technical difference between Ukrainian and Russian aircraft to the difference between a Makarov pistol and a sniper rifle, noting that despite this, Ukrainian pilots were able to fight back.
Background:
On 16 May, Ukraine's Air Force lost an F-16 aircraft. A pilot encountered an emergency situation on board while repelling a Russian aerial attack but managed to steer the aircraft away from a populated area and successfully ejected.
In August 2024, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that an F-16 fighter jet crashed while repelling a Russian missile strike and the pilot was killed. At that time, it was reported that pilot Oleksii Mes had been killed.
On 12 April, 26-year-old pilot Pavlo Ivanov was killed while performing a combat mission on an F-16 aircraft.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
16 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Europeans demand a ceasefire before Trump summits with Putin and Zelensky
Russia must agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine before negotiations can advance toward a formal peace agreement, top European leaders told Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, urging the U.S. president to 'put pressure on Russia' in his push to end the war. The meeting had an historic flair with six European heads of government, the NATO secretary general, and the president of the European Commission all converging on Washington for discussions with the president — a flurry of diplomatic activity after Trump's summit last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska sparked widespread fears over the fate of U.S. support for security on the continent. Trump first met with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the Oval Office, striking an affable tone following their last, disastrous meeting in the room back in February. This time, Trump emphasized his 'love' for the Ukrainian people and his commitment to provide security guarantees for Kyiv in an ultimate peace settlement with Russia. Zelensky offered only praise and gratitude to Trump, telling reporters that they had their 'best' meeting yet. But an expanded meeting with Zelensky and the chancellor of Germany, the presidents of France and Finland, the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Italy, and the heads of NATO and the European Commission hinted at a more challenging road ahead for the burgeoning peace effort. 'The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones now,' said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. 'The path is open — you opened it. but now the way is open for complicated negotiations, and to be honest, we would all like to see a ceasefire, at the latest, from the next meeting on.' 'I can't imagine the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,' Merz added. 'So let's work on that. And let's put pressure on Russia.' Emmanuel Macron, the French president, sat sternly throughout the start of the meeting before echoing Merz's call. 'Your idea to ask for a truce, a ceasefire, or at least to stop the killings,' Macron said, 'is a necessity, and we all support this idea.' Trump had been in agreement with his European counterparts on the necessity of a ceasefire for months. Zelensky first agreed to one in March. But Putin has refused, pressing Russian advantages on the battlefield, and in Anchorage on Friday convinced Trump to drop his calls for an immediate halt to the fighting. 'All of us would obviously prefer an immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace. Maybe something like that could happen — as of this moment, it's not happening,' Trump said at the meeting. 'But President Zelensky and President Putin can talk a little bit more about that.' 'I don't know that it's necessary,' Trump added. 'You can do it through the war. But I like the ceasefire from another standpoint — you immediately stop the killing.' The European leaders all emphasized to Trump that they share his desire for peace. But the president of the commission, Ursula Van der Leyen, called for a 'just' peace, and Zelensky would not engage publicly with reporters on Putin's central demand: a surrender of vast swaths of Ukrainian territory to Russian control. Putin first invaded Ukraine in 2014, occupying the Crimean peninsula in a stealth operation and funding an attack on the eastern Donbas region using proxy forces. But he launched a full-scale invasion of the entire country in 2022, leading to the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two. In a hot mic moment, before press were ushered out of the expanded meeting with European leaders, Trump told Macron that he believes the Russian president and former KGB officer would agree to a peace deal because of their personal relationship. He 'wants to make a deal for me,' he said, 'as crazy as it sounds.' European leaders said that detailed U.S. security guarantees — for Ukraine specifically, and more broadly for Europe — were at the top of the agenda for Monday's meetings, including the prospect of U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine to enforce any future peace settlement. Asked whether U.S. forces would be involved, Trump did not rule it out, stating, 'we'll be talking about that.' 'When it comes to security, there's going to be a lot of help,' he said in the Oval Office. 'It's going to be good. They are first line of defense, because they're there — they are Europe. But we're going to help them out, also. We'll be involved.' Van der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised the Trump administration for discussing what it called 'Article 5-like' security guarantees for Ukraine, referencing a provision of the NATO charter that states that an attack on one member is an attack on all. But the provision also provides countries in the NATO alliance with broad discretion whether to participate in a military response to an attack on a fellow member. Starmer and Macron have expressed a willingness for months to send British and French troops to Ukraine. But the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Moscow would oppose the deployment of NATO troops to the country as 'provocative' and 'reckless,' creating a potential rift in the negotiations. Despite the gulf between Europe and Russia, Trump expressed hope throughout the day that he could schedule a trilateral meeting amongst himself, Putin and Zelensky, possibly within a matter of days. He planned on calling Putin shortly after European leaders left the White House, he told reporters. Trump's team floated inviting Zelensky to attend the negotiations in Alaska last Friday, and Zelensky has said he is willing to participate in a trilateral meeting. He repeated his interest to Trump on Monday and asked him to attend. But Moscow has yet to commit to a trilateral summit. Ahead of Friday's meeting, Russian officials said that conditions weren't right for a direct talks between Putin and the Ukrainian president. The Russian leader has repeatedly questioned Zelensky's legitimacy, and has tried to assassinate him on numerous occasions. In the Oval Office, a Fox News reporter asked Zelensky if he was 'prepared to keep sending Ukrainian troops to their deaths,' or whether he would 'agree to redraw the maps' instead. The Ukrainian president demurred. 'We live under each day attacks,' Zelensky responded. 'We need to stop this war, to stop Russia. And we need the support — American and European partners.' Trump and his team largely adopted Putin's position on Friday that Russia should be able to keep the Ukrainian territory it has occupied by force — and possibly even more of the Donbas region of Donetsk that remains in Ukrainian control — in exchange for an end to the fighting. But European officials were silent on the idea on Monday. The Ukrainian Constitution prohibits the concession of territory without the support of a public referendum, and polls indicate that three out of four Ukrainians oppose giving up land in an attempt to end the war. Steve Witkoff, the president's envoy for special missions, said Sunday that Putin agreed to pass legislation through the Kremlin that would guarantee an end to wars of conquest in Ukraine, or elsewhere in Europe. But Russia has made similar commitments before. In 1994, the United States and Britain signed on to a agreement in Budapest with Ukraine and Russia that ostensibly guaranteed security for Kyiv and vowed to honor Ukraine's territorial integrity. In exchange, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons.
New York Post
16 minutes ago
- New York Post
Hot mic catches Trump's ‘crazy' whisper to French prez Macron before multilateral meeting
A hot mic caught President Trump whispering something he called 'crazy' as he, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven European heads of state spoke to the press before their closed-door meeting at the White House to talk about ending Russia's war in Ukraine. 'I think he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants to make a deal,' Trump whispered to French President Emmanuel Macron in the East Room. President Trump speaking to French President Emmanuel Macron in the East Room of the White House on Aug. 18, 2025. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Advertisement 'I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.'
Chicago Tribune
16 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump express hope for talks with Vladimir Putin to bring end to Russia-Ukraine war
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday during talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders that a potential ceasefire and who gets Ukrainian territory seized by Russia should be hashed out during a face-to-face meeting between the warring countries' two leaders. Trump made the comments days after he hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks at a U.S. military base in Alaska in which he tilted toward Putin's demands that Ukraine make concessions over land seized by Russia, which now controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory. 'We're going to let the president go over and talk to the president and we'll see how that works out,' Trump said during his meeting with Zelenskyy and the European leaders. Trump and Zelenskyy also expressed hope of soon holding three-way talks among the U.S., Russian and Ukrainian leaders. Trump also said he would back European security guarantees for Ukraine as he met with Zelenskyy and the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Finland, as well as the president of the European Commission and the head of NATO. Trump stopped short of committing U.S. troops to a collective effort to bolster Ukraine's security. He said instead that there would be a 'NATO-like' security presence and that all those details would be hashed out with EU leaders. 'They want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we'll help them out with that,' Trump said. 'I think its very important to get the deal done.' Speaking Monday before the White House meetings took place, Russia's Foreign Ministry rejected the idea of a possible NATO peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Such a scenario could see further escalation and 'unpredictable consequences,' ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned. Trump's engagement with Zelenskyy had a strikingly different feel to their last Oval Office meeting in February. It was a disastrous moment that led to Trump abruptly ending talks with the Ukrainian delegation, and temporarily pausing some aid for Kyiv, after he and Vice President JD Vance complained that Zelenskyy had shown insufficient gratitude for U.S. military assistance. Zelenskyy at the start of the meeting presented a letter from his wife, Olena Zelenska, for Trump's wife, Melania. Trump hand-delivered a letter from the U.S. first lady over the weekend urging him to consider the children impacted by the conflict and bring an end to the brutal 3 1/2 year war. Trump at one point needled Zelenskyy over Ukraine delaying elections. They had been scheduled for last year but were delayed because of the ongoing Russian invasion. Ukrainian law does not allow presidential elections to be held when martial law is in effect. Trump joked that a similar circumstance wouldn't play well in the U.S. Zelenskyy faced criticism during his February meeting from a conservative journalist for appearing in the Oval Office in a long sleeve T-shirt. This time he appeared in dark jacket and buttoned-shirt. Zelenskyy has said his typically less formal attire since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 is to show solidarity with Ukrainian soldiers. Monday's hastily assembled meeting came after Trump met in Alaska on Friday with Putin. After that meeting, Trump has said the onus is now on Zelenskyy to agree to concessions of land that he said could end the war. Trump said he plans to talk to Putin after his meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders. 'We'll see in a certain period of time, not very far from now, a week or two weeks, we're going to know whether or not we're going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue,' Trump said. The European leaders were left out of Trump's summit with Putin. They want to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow. Many arrived at the White House with the explicit goal of protecting Ukraine's interests — a rare show of diplomatic force. Ahead of Monday's meeting, Trump suggested that Ukraine could not regain Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, setting off an armed conflict that led to its broader 2022 invasion. 'President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,' Trump wrote Sunday night on social media. 'Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!' Zelenskyy responded with his own post late Sunday, saying, 'We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.' He said that 'peace must be lasting,' not as it was after Russia seized Crimea and part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine eight years ago, and 'Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.' Putin opposes Ukraine joining NATO outright, yet Trump's team claims the Russian leader is open to Western allies agreeing to defend Ukraine if it comes under attack. European leaders suggested forging a temporary ceasefire is not off the table. Following his meeting with Putin on Friday, Trump dropped his demand for an immediate ceasefire and said that he would look to secure a final peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine — a sudden shift to a position favored by Putin. At the start of Monday's meeting with European leaders, the German and French leaders praised Trump for opening a path to peace, but they urged the U.S. president to push Russia for a ceasefire. 'I would like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting,' said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The other European leaders in attendance were: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. European leaders are still looking for a concrete details about what U.S. involvement would be toward building a security guarantee for Ukraine. Still, Rutte, the NATO Secretary-General, called Trump's commitment to security guarantees 'a big step, a breakthrough.' Zelenskyy outlined what he said his country needed to feel secure, which included a 'strong Ukrainian army' through weapons sales and training. The second part, he said, would depend on the outcome of Monday's talks and what EU countries, NATO and the U.S. would be able to guarantee to the war-torn country. Trump briefed Zelenskyy and European allies shortly after the Putin meeting. Details from the discussions emerged in a scattershot way that seemed to rankle the U.S. president, who had chosen not to outline any terms when appearing afterward with Putin. European officials confirmed that Trump told them Putin is still seeking control of the entire Donbas region, even though Ukraine still controls a meaningful share of it.
