Countering Russian aviation with MiGs is ineffective, Ukraine needs F-16s – Air Force spokesman

Yuriy Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, shared the information with Espreso TV.

"Four Slovak MiGs arrived on their own, the rest, which were donated by Slovakia, arrived in another way – by land. Our experts will check their condition. The Air Force engineers will examine their technical condition and take everything useful. Instead of just putting it in a standstill, the aircraft can be disassembled for spare parts and strengthen what we have today with those parts. They can only be obtained through donation," he said.

Ihnat added that the aircraft was manufactured in Russia and has unique components that cannot be produced at domestic facilities.

"We have factories that are engaged in repair and minor modernization and extending the life of aircraft, but manufacturing is a completely different story. The parts can be used to enhance our current capabilities. This aircraft is old; it was developed in the 1970s. It's not very effective against missiles and Shahed drones. Our pilots do their best to shoot them down. It is not very rational and inefficient to use the MiG against Russian aviation today, we should rather keep our pilots safer by avoiding it. That is why Ukraine needs the F-16 aircraft. The F-16 will be able to counter Russian aircraft using guided bombs and drive them as far away from our borders as possible, along with air defense systems," the spokesman summarized.