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[Text/Observer.com Chen Sijia] According to a report by the Washington Post on August 4, Ukrainian President Zelensky announced that day that the F-16 fighter jets provided by Western countries have arrived in Ukraine and are in use. But he also admitted that the number of F-16 fighter jets received by Ukraine is limited, and the number of Ukrainian pilots trained in the West is still insufficient.

"The F-16 fighter jets have arrived in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our soldiers who have mastered these," Zelensky said in a speech at an air force base in Ukraine.fighter, start using them for our country.”

Zelensky described this as "a new stage in the development of the Ukrainian Air Force". He said that Ukraine has done a lot of work for the army to transition to Western aviation combat standards. "We often heard the word 'impossible', but we still achieved our ambitions and defense needs. It has become a reality and a reality in our skies."

But Zelensky also admitted that the number of F-16 fighters received by Ukraine is extremely limited, the number of Ukrainian pilots trained in the West is still insufficient, and Ukraine's allies need to find ways to expand pilot and engineering team training programs. He revealed that many Ukrainian pilots are undergoing training and it is expected that Kiev will receive more F-16 fighters in the future.

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Sersky said that the F-16 fighter jets will help "save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers," "which means more enemy forces will be destroyed, and more missiles and aircraft used to attack Ukrainian cities will be shot down."

Zelensky did not disclose in his speech the number of F-16 fighter jets Ukraine received, nor did he disclose which countries provided the fighter jets. Reuters noted that at the scene of the speech, two F-16 fighter jets were parked on both sides of the base, and another two fighter jets were flying in the air.

NATO members Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands have all pledged to provide fighter jets to Ukraine. The Washington Post noted that Ukrainian officials declined to say how many fighter jets Kiev would receive this year, but expected the number to be no more than 20. Since Ukraine has almost no extra pilots and the number of places in the training program is limited, only six Ukrainian pilots may be able to complete the training this summer.

Ukrainian and Western officials say the first batch of F-16 fighters can bolster Ukraine's air defenses and help Ukrainian forces intercept Russian missiles, drones and aircraft. But officials also acknowledge that Ukraine has acquired too few F-16 fighters and too many Russian air defense systems that can shoot them down, so these fighters are unlikely to get close to the front line.

Regarding Western countries providing F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Russian presidential press secretary Peskov previously said that this move could not change the situation on the front line. "Once these aircraft appear, their number will gradually decrease, they will be shot down and destroyed, and the delivery of these aircraft will not have any significant impact on the changes in the situation on the front line."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov also told Russian media on the 1st that Western equipment could not prevent Russia from achieving the goals of its "special military operations" and "they had no way to turn the tide of the war in their favor."

This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.