
The Dutch and Polish prime ministers also said their countries intend to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. He called on countries to send more Patriot missile defense systems until the fighter jets are delivered. Pledged ally support: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has heard “powerful support” from allies at the European Political Community Summit in Moldova on countries supplying fighter jets to Kyiv to help repel Russian forces.Officials in Ukraine said it “does not have any responsibility” over the Russian dissident groups that have claimed to be fighting inside Russian territory and that they are "acting on their own." The Kremlin says the attacks will not change the course of its so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine, which is the term President Vladimir Putin uses to refer to Russia's war in Ukraine. Belgorod border incursions: Dozens of strikes have occurred on Russia's border region of Belgorod over the last day, according to the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said police will now patrol bomb shelters during nighttime air raid alarms to ensure they are open. Their deaths have sparked anger after reports emerged that they had tried to enter a bomb shelter that was closed. Attack in Kyiv: Three people, including a 9-year-old girl, were killed and at least 12 others were injured in a missile strike on Kyiv overnight, according to Ukraine's national police.With an aerial defense system established across critical parts of Ukraine, the effort has now shifted to bolstering Ukraine’s air force with modern Western fighter jets.īut the plan will still take time, with open questions about who will provide the jets, training, and sustainment needed.

The flow of aerial defense systems has been effective at forcing Russia’s air force to largely remain out of Ukrainian air space and prevent Russia from establishing aerial supremacy over Ukraine. “The fastest, cheapest, most effective way to do that was from the ground,” he said. Since the beginning of the war, instead of trying to compete with Russian air power by matching them plane-for-plane, the US and other countries provided Ukraine with ground-based aerial defense systems, Milley said. Russia’s has hundreds of fourth and fifth generation fighters and bombers, dwarfing the smaller, older Ukrainian fleet or military aircraft. It’s going to take a considerable length of time, effort, money, to build that air force,” Milley said. “Everyone recognizes that Ukraine needs a modernized air force and everyone knows that.
