First F-16s arriving in Ukraine to send strong signal that “Russia will only lose” - Zelensky
That’s according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who delivered a video address to the nation on Wednesday night, Ukrinform reports.
"I wish you health, dear Ukrainians!
Today, I held the first meeting of the Staff after all the important visits, meetings and decisions – defense decisions that we have been working on for quite some time and are now getting them in cooperation with our partners.
First of all, this concerns the aviation coalition - a coalition of modern fighter jets for Ukraine.
We are doing everything we can to reduce the time until the result is achieved, until new and powerful aircraft with Ukrainian pilots emerge in the Ukrainian skies.
It is clear that this global step will allow us to expand our defense capabilities. Because it is only with powerful aircraft that an air defense system can be complete.
On the other hand, the first Ukrainian F-16 will be one of the strongest signals from the world that Russia will only lose because of its own aggression, becoming weaker and more isolated.
This will be a signal that Russian terror has lost, and our world, which is based on respect for independent nations and the right of peoples to choose their own path, has endured.
We will prepare the necessary basis to ensure that our aviation transition is as quick and efficient as possible.
Our warriors have already proved that they can master modern weapons with efficiency that was not expected from us. I'm sure they will be just as successful with the aircraft.
The main thing is the speed of training and supply, i.e. the time that will pass between decisions and the actual defense of our skies.
Today, as usual, I heard reports from the commanders, the Commander-in-Chief, the Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate on the current situation at the front, our counteraction to the occupier, and the capabilities that Russia is going to use against us.
We know how to respond. In particular, this applies to the missile threat and the constant terror of kamikaze drones.
Now Russia is increasingly resorting to so-called combined strikes - different types of missiles, different types of drones.
I am grateful to our Air Force, to all our defenders of the sky, to our intelligence for improving our defense faster than Russia can change its terror tactics.
If we take, for example, just one weapon of Russian terror, the Iranian Shaheds, our soldiers have shot down almost 900 of these drones to date. In total, about 1160 Shaheds have been used against Ukraine. We shoot down most of them.
And we are constantly looking for tools to make the share of downed Iranian drones 100%.
But today, given that such strikes are ongoing, I would like to appeal to the people of Iran directly. To everyone - to society, to Iranian ulama, to every Iranian family, to those people who are able to influence government decisions in Iran. A simple question: why do you want to be accomplices in Russian terror? Why are you on the side of the evil state?
The world sees what is happening, and you all in Iran see it. Support for evil cannot be denied.
Even though we have learned to shoot down most of your kamikaze drones that you are handing over to Russia, there are still hits.
When an Iranian drone kills a pregnant Ukrainian girl and her husband in their home, why do you, mothers and fathers in Iran, need this? When your Shahed hits a dormitory with our students, people die, a fire starts, rescuers arrive, and in a few minutes a second Shahed hits, taking the lives of those who were saving the lives of others... Why does Iran need such cynical murders? Committed by Russia's hands, yet with your weapons.
What do you, the people in Tehran, or in Shiraz, or in Saqqez, or in any other city in your country, get from this?
Unfortunately, even greater isolation from the world and even greater problems.
For Russia, absolutely everything is a target. Homes, schools, hospitals, houses of worship, churches, power plants, markets, even humanitarian aid distribution points and bus stops... There are thousands of examples of this. People of Iran! Russia is hitting everything indiscriminately. With artillery and mortars, missiles and drones - with what it has and what Russia is given on your behalf.
I am sure you must be on the other side of history - not with evil.
Russia started this war for the sake of enslavement. It is a war of a colonizer against a neighboring nation. Russia even steals people - our children! Thousands and thousands... Only absolute evil can steal the children of another nation. And by going against Ukrainians, the Russian occupiers are destroying all other national communities that have lived on the land of Ukraine for centuries. The villages of Greek Christians burned by Russians and Russia's systematic repression of the Crimean Tatar people, our Ukrainian Muslim community, are proof of this.
The people of Iran could live a very different life if you were not put on the same side with such evil as Russian aggression.
Your Shaheds who terrorize Ukraine every night only mean that the people of Iran are being pushed deeper and deeper into the dark side of history.
Glory to all who defend life!
Thank you to everyone in the world who helps strengthen our air defense, our aviation and save our people from Russian terror!
If we are strong, we will live!
Glory to Ukraine!"
