No country in the world has such experience in repelling massive air attacks as Ukraine — Ihnat

"The Air Force has undergone a transformation of armaments. We have more equipment that protects the Ukrainian sky. These are Patriot, IRIS-T, and NASAMS systems. And we expect further transformation, namely the provision of aircraft to Ukraine, modern jets such as F-16s which will significantly strengthen our air defense and help ground troops," Ihnat said during the United News nationwide telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

At the same time, he noted that "the transformation of the Air Force takes place not only in the provision of equipment but also in the training of our personnel."

"No country in the world has such experience in repelling massive air attacks launched with all available modern means of destruction. Unfortunately, Russia has them, Russia has been investing huge sums of money in it for decades, and today it uses them to attack. Therefore, the NATO countries will greatly need the experience that the Ukrainian military has today. And we also want to become a part of this organization so that peace and security in the whole world are stable and such horror as Russia has inflicted on us is never repeated," Ihnat emphasized.

Also, the Air Force spokesman clarified that Ukraine has yet to master F-16 aircraft.

He noted that from the evening of August 5 to the morning of August 6, Russia used 70 means of air attack on the territory of Ukraine.

"The enemy launched Shahed drones, Kinzhal, Kalibr, Kh-101, Kh-555 missiles on the territory of our state. Fifty-seven air targets were destroyed. Indeed, our [air defense] forces did everything possible to repel this air attack. Today is Air Force Day. Perhaps, the enemy actually planned to ‘congratulate’ our defenders of the sky in this way, but he did not succeed. And I think that we will continue to build up our efforts to nullify the enemy's aggression," the Air Force spokesman emphasized.

As reported, from the evening of August 5 to the morning of August 6, 2023, the Russian invaders launched a massive missile attack on the territory of Ukraine with air- and sea-launched missiles and Iranian Shahed-136/131 drones.