War in Ukraine: F-16 fighters delivered, evacuation of several villages in the East… an update on the situation
Volodymyr Zelensky devant un F-16 ce 4 août 2024. MAXPPP – PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT
Tous les jours, Midi Libre fait le point sur la situation en Ukraine. Ce dimanche 4 août 2024, découvrez les dernières actualités autour de ce conflit.
Ukraine receives first F-16 fighter jets, Zelensky announces
Ukraine has received its first Western F-16 fighter jets, which it has been waiting for for more than two years, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday, showing them to journalists while stressing that their number was "insufficient".
Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, kyiv has been pleading for the delivery of F-16s in the hope of ending Russian domination in the air and better protecting its cities and troops from Russian bombing incessant.
The American-made planes are considered the crown jewel in a sprawling list of military hardware that Ukraine has requested from its backers in an effort to repel the advance of Russian forces on its soil.
“We have held hundreds of meetings and negotiations” with allies to obtain these planes and strengthen the country's air defenses, and “we have often heard the words “it is impossible” in response”, Volodymyr Zelensky said at a ceremony on a secret site in Ukraine. "Now it's reality, reality in our skies. F-16s are in Ukraine", he said happily.
Ukrainian Air Force pilots have begun using F-16s to conduct operations in the country, he said on Sunday. Nearly 30 months after the start of the Russian invasion, the president confirmed the use of the fighter jets during a meeting with pilots at an air base. "We did it. “I am proud of our guys who have mastered these planes and have already started using them for our country,” he said.
The Ukrainian president did not disclose the number of aircraft received by Kiev, saying only that it was “insufficient”, as well as the number of Ukrainian pilots trained in the West to fly and maintain these aircraft. Neither the date of delivery nor the country that provided this first batch were disclosed.
“The positive thing is that we are expecting additional F-16s” and that “many of our guys are being trained”, the Ukrainian president assured. AFP journalists saw at least two F-16s flying over the site during the ceremony.
Behind Volodymyr Zelensky, two other gray aircraft resembling F-16s were on the ground, partially covered with camouflage nets and their tails emblazoned with the national coat of arms, the trident. In mid-May, President Zelensky had declared in an interview with AFP that he needed 120 to 130 of these aircraft to achieve parity with the Russian air force.
Ukraine orders the evacuation of several localities in the east
Ukraine announced on Sunday the evacuation of children and their parents from towns in the Donetsk region (east), close to areas where Russia has claimed advances in recent days.
A few hours earlier, Russia announced that it had captured a village in this area. In recent weeks Moscow has claimed the capture of several other towns, most of them containing only a few streets.
"The enemy is bombarding towns and villages in these surrounding areas every day. It was therefore decided to evacuate the children with their parents or other legal representatives,” said Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin, who gave a list of localities in the areas where Russia claimed to have gained ground.
Vadym Filashkin mentioned the town of Novogrodovka, which is about 20 kilometers from the village of Novoselivka Persha, which Russia claimed control of on Sunday. "In total, we need to evacuate 744 children with their families from four communities to safer regions of Ukraine", the Donetsk governor announced.
"I have given instructions that only armored vehicles will take part in the evacuation of children", he said, referring to the Russian use of drones FPV (First person view in English, or "immersion piloting") that allow their pilot to see live images of the ground as if they were on board.
"We must make efforts to protect our children", he added. The governor has called on civilians to leave the region in recent weeks due to an increase in Russian bombing.
In this third year of conflict, neither Moscow nor kyiv are in a position to decisively tip the conflict, despite recent territorial gains by Russian forces. In 2022, Russia claimed the annexation of the Donetsk region, as well as three other regions in the east and south, although it does not control all of them.
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