Ukraine deploys F-16s for first time against Russia as fighter jets shoot down

Ukraine deploys F-16s for first time against Russia as fighter jets shoot down Putin_s missiles

Transcript

00:00President Zelensky has confirmed that Ukraine has used its F-16s for the first time in conflict,

00:23or at least it's the first time he's confirmed that they have been used. We know he confirmed

00:27they arrived at the beginning of August. Now he said that they were used and they were

00:31used in the last couple of days during those massive Russian missile bombardments. He said

00:36they helped to shoot down some of the Russian missiles. We know that on the first of those

00:42huge strikes, Russia launched over 200 missiles and drones, including 100 missiles. That's

00:47a huge quantity. The second night, it was about nine missiles, I think, and 90 drones.

00:53President Zelensky said that those F-16 Fighting Falcons, the first of which, which have come

00:57from the Netherlands and Denmark, were used. That's obviously been something we've been

01:03tracking on frontline for a very long time. Four allies, including the Netherlands, Denmark,

01:08Norway, have pledged to send over 90 of these jets in total. It's not clear how many of them

01:17have arrived. And we've had a number of discussions about whether or not we think

01:20they'll be game changers. Clearly, they can make a difference. But as we predicted, they're

01:26likely to be used to bolster Ukraine's air defences. So for air-to-air engagements, for

01:33shooting down missiles and weapons attacking Ukraine, rather than at this stage, any suggestions

01:39that will be used for ground support or to hit Russian targets, long-range Russian targets

01:44on the land. The aircraft can be fitted with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles. At

01:49the moment, it seems that their role is air-to-air, air defence.