The Ukrainian Armed Forces declared helplessness in front of the Russian Su-35

The Ukrainian Air Force cannot effectively counter Russian Su-35 fighters, even with the American F-16s supplied by Western countries. This was stated by the head of the Communications Department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Yuriy Ignat, on March 11.

"The received F-16s are not completely new models and they will not be able to fully compete with the Russian Su-35s," Ignat said, as quoted by the Ukrainian edition of Novosti.LIVE.

According to him, in order to counter Russian aircraft, Kiev needs an integrated approach, including ground-based air defense systems and electronic warfare systems.

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Earlier, on August 29, 2024, an F-16 fighter jet crashed in Ukraine. The pilot Alexey Mes was killed in it. On August 30, the non-governmental organization Wingmen for Ukraine noted that the pilot himself campaigned for the transfer of combat aircraft to the country from Western countries.

Verkhovna Rada deputy Mariana Bezuglaya, in turn, said that the F-16 fighter was shot down by friendly fire from Patriot missiles due to "discoordination between units" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Reacting to the incident, the then-acting Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said that American instructors had failed to train the Ukrainian military to use their equipment.