Zelensky: Nearly half of Ukraine's F-16s are undergoing maintenance in Europe

Status of the F-16 fighter fleet

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in an interview with Financial Times that approximately half of Ukraine's F-16 fighters are currently undergoing repair in European countries. This means that these aircraft cannot temporarily be deployed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in combat operations.

The problem of equipment availability

The head of state noted that the duration of repair processes creates a difficult situation: many aircraft are found to be unavailable precisely at critical moments when air defence requires the maximum number of resources. To resolve this issue, plans are being made to transfer part of the F-16 technical maintenance to Ukrainian territory.