Ukraine will de-occupy territories without F-16s, but at cost of human lives – General Romanenko

Ihor Romanenko, Deputy Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff (2006-2010), told Espreso.

"We have been performing tasks in such conditions for 14 months. In general, we started the war with guerrilla weapons – Stinger, Javelin, NLAW systems, and now we see progress. That is, despite this, we will prepare and use all our capabilities that we have now and conduct de-occupation operations," Romanenko said.

According to the general, Ukraine is paying for such approaches with the lives and health of its military. Romanenko said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have reduced the enemy's potential by a third, but it still exceeds Ukrainian capabilities.

• Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov is convinced that Ukraine will "finalize" the issue of F-16 fighters for the Armed Forces.

• Congressmen from both parties are pressuring Biden to give Ukraine F-16s and ATACMS. A group of lawmakers believe that F-16s and long-range missiles should be the logical next step. The equipment could be key to Ukraine's defense and counteroffensive.