Ukraine gets first F-16 fighter jets to bolster defenses against Russia: US official

FILE – U.S. F-16 fighter jets fly through the sky over Poland’s capital as they take part in a massive military parade marking Polish Army Day, in Warsaw, Poland, Aug. 15, 2023. Ukraine has received the first batch of Western F-16 fighter jets it has been seeking for months to help it fend off a barrage of Russian missile attacks, a U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press. Ukraine has been pushing for months to get Western F-16s for Ukraine, saying they were desperately needed to fend off an onslaught of missiles Russia has fired at it. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)