The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, United States, on March 3, 2022, more than a week after Russia invaded Ukraine. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
WASHINGTON, April 19 – Ukraine’s military has received additional planes and parts for repairs to get damaged planes flying again, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
Ukraine has defied the expectations of allies and military pundits by not only keeping its air force operational nearly two months after the Russian invasion began, but actually repairing aircraft and apparently stocking up.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby gave no details on which countries were providing planes, but did confirm new transfers and said Ukraine has more operational fighter jets than two weeks ago.
“They received additional planes and plane parts to help them get more planes airborne,” Kirby said in a news conference, without elaborating.
Kirby said Washington did not provide Kyiv with a plane.
“We certainly helped transship some additional spare parts that helped with their aircraft needs, but we didn’t move entire aircraft,” he said.
Nevertheless, that could change soon. The United States has announced plans to transfer Russian-made helicopters to Ukraine that were once destined for Afghanistan.
More than 50 days after the war began, parts of Ukraine’s skies are still contested, due to Ukraine’s aircraft fleet and air defenses, including man-portable, shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, provided by the United States and its allies.
This has enabled Ukraine to conduct a much more effective ground campaign than if Russia had air dominance and could defend its invading forces from the air.
Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Edited by Leslie Adler and Sandra Maler