Denmark and the Netherlands are set to head a new European coalition to provide Ukraine with F-16 pilot training and maintenance as the allies prepare to supply Kyiv with fighter jets, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Thursday. The United States will participate in the training program, to be conducted in Europe, along with Norway, Belgium, Portugal, Poland and others that have F-16s in their arsenals.
Ukraine live briefing: European coalition to train Ukraine on F-16s, Pentagon says
Speaking at a new conference following a virtual meeting of the larger, 52-member international coalition aiding Ukraine, Austin and Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to put a timeline on delivery of any F-16s. Last week the Biden administration agreed to lift restrictions preventing other countries from transferring the U.S.-made aircraft to Ukraine, although administration officials said the United States would not send any of its own.
Austin and Milley defended long-standing U.S. hesitation to supply Ukraine with fourth and fifth generation fighter jets despite persistent Ukrainian appeals. “As we said from the beginning … that is very lethal airspace,” Austin said, and the focus of allies has been on providing Ukraine with air defense capabilities against Russian attacks on infrastructure and civilians. The F-16 is not a “magic weapon,” Milley said.
If the expensive fighters — each worth tens of millions of dollars — had been sent earlier, he said, it would not have been possible to supply all the other advanced weaponry the United States and others have transferred. “It’s not a question of we agree now or we agree later, under pressure,” said Milley. “This is hardcore military analysis.” While F-16s will give Ukraine additional ability to fire long range weapons behind Russian defensive lines, even the 40-50 planes Ukraine has asked for would be up against what he said were “thousands” of comparable Russian aircraft.
F-16 Fighting Falcon
Ukraine’s leaders have argued that the F-16 is far superior to their existing fleet of Soviet-era warplanes with more advanced radars, sensors and missile capabilities.
Sidewinder
missiles
Cockpit
The cockpit and its bubble canopy give the pilot unobstructed vision.
Weapons
Variety of laser
or GPS-guided
bombs up to 2,000 lbs.
Max speed: 1,500 mph
Wingspan: 32 feet, 8 inches (9.8 meters)
Length: 49 feet, 5 inches (14.8 meters)
Contractor: Lockheed Martin Corp
Source: U.S. Air Force
WILLIAM NEFF/THE WASHINGTON POST
F-16 Fighting Falcon
Ukraine’s leaders have argued that the F-16 is far superior to their existing fleet of Soviet-era warplanes with more advanced radars, sensors and missile capabilities.
Sidewinder missiles
Cockpit
The cockpit and its bubble canopy give the pilot unobstructed vision.
Weapons
Variety of laser or GPS-guided
bombs up to 2,000 lbs.
Max speed: 1,500 mph
Contractor: Lockheed Martin Corp
Length: 49 feet, 5 inches (14.8 meters)
Wingspan: 32 feet, 8 inches (9.8 meters)
Source: U.S. Air Force
WILLIAM NEFF/THE WASHINGTON POST
Here’s the latest on the war and its impact across the globe.
Battle for Bakhmut
- Russia’s Wagner Group began a planned withdrawal Thursday from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary force.
- “From today at five in the morning, May 25 until June 1, most of the units will rebase to camps in the rear,” Prigozhin said in a video Thursday. “We are handing our positions to the military.” Earlier this week, he vowed to hand over responsibility for the embattled city, now under Moscow’s control, to Russia’s Defense Ministry — with which he has engaged in long-running public feud over resources and support. The Washington Post could not independently verify his claims.
- Regular Russian army units replaced Wagner forces in Bakhmut’s outer suburbs, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a Telegram message Thursday. She added, however, that Wagner units are still in the city. Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern command, told The Post he could confirm that some Wagner troops are rotating but that he didn’t know the scale. He noted that Russia has mounted fewer attacks there over the past two days.
Other key developments
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu signed an agreement Thursday with his Belarusian counterpart, allowing for the storage of tactical nuclear weapons on the Russian ally’s territory. The deal meets “every existent international legal obligation,” Shoigu said during a signing ceremony in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. He warned that further steps could be taken to protect the countries’ collective security. At the same time, he underlined that Russia “is not giving nuclear weapons to Belarus” and that control over their use and deployment remains “in the hands” of Moscow.
- The U.N. Security Council plans to meet on Tuesday to discuss the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, CBS reported. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has been pushing for months for an agreement to secure the plant — which remains elusive given tense relations between Moscow and Washington, as well as Kyiv’s reluctance to accept a deal that falls short of a complete Russian withdrawal from the plant and its surroundings. The Post had reported this week that Grossi planned to present a list of five principles to the Security Council.
- Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has filed lawsuits, seeking nearly $280 million, against state-owned arms companies that it alleges have failed to deliver on contracts signed earlier in the conflict, Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda reports.
- Ukraine’s Defense Ministry appeared to confirm an attack on a Russian reconnaissance ship, posting a video on Twitter on Thursday saying that the Black Sea Fleet ship “‘Ivan Khurs’ met a Ukrainian drone.” Russia’s Defense Ministry had said a day prior that Ukraine had made an “unsuccessful attempt” to attack the Ivan Khurs with three unmanned surface vehicles, adding that the ship was not damaged. The Post was unable to verify the claims.
When the russian reconnaissance ship "Ivan Khurs" met a Ukrainian drone.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 25, 2023
Indeed, a perfect match! pic.twitter.com/mW3clD0vHh
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky surprised graduates at Johns Hopkins University on Thursday, appearing in a live stream at their commencement ceremony. He told the crowd that time is of the essence and urged them not to waste it. “Every person eventually realizes that time is the most valuable resource on the planet — not oil, or uranium, not lithium or anything else, but time. Time,” he said. He told them he was proud that Ukraine is not losing a single day in its defense against Russian aggression.
- Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, accused Russia of “constantly” hitting the dam of the Karliv reservoir, putting villages at risk of flooding. On Telegram on Thursday, Kyrylenko said that officials warned residents of the villages of the danger and that emergency services are preparing in case of an emergency.
Global impact
- The U.S. military is still trying to determine whether U.S. Humvees and potentially other military material was used in a cross-border attack from Ukraine into Russia by anti-Putin Russians earlier this week, and if so, where it was obtained. “I’ve got the staff looking at that to confirm it or now. I don’t have an answer,” Milley said. The “rules,” Milley said, are that Ukraine does “not use U.S.-supplied equipment” to attack into Russian territory. Video verified by The Post after the attack showed two heavily damaged U.S.-made Humvees on the Russian side of the border.
- Moscow summoned the Danish, German and Swedish ambassadors Thursday, accusing their governments of failing to make progress in investigations into attacks on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines last year.
- Zelensky urged Iran to stop supplying Russia with Shahed drones, which have been used to target critical infrastructure in Ukraine. More than 1,100 Iranian-made drones have been deployed in Ukraine, he said in his nightly address, adding that most were downed by Ukrainian troops.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed Russia’s position that Ukrainian intelligence units were responsible for a drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month, citing a New York Times report that suggested U.S. officials hold similar beliefs. “We said right off the bat that the Kyiv regime was behind the drone attack. … It doesn’t make much difference which unit is behind it,” he said. U.S. officials told the Times that the incident still lacked clarity and that their level of confidence that the Ukrainian government directly authorized the attack was “low.” Ukraine has denied involvement in the attack.
From our correspondents
In wartime Russia, a farm-to-table evangelist finds refuge in a village: As tens of thousands of people fled Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, one entrepreneur chose to stay back. Boris Akimov, founder of one of the best farm-to-table restaurants in Moscow championing local produce, instead moved to a tiny village northeast of the capital to set up a new one, Robyn Dixon writes.
Akimov, like many others in Russia, sees the war as terrible but also beyond his scope of influence. He avoids the news instead. He is now reviving old culinary traditions and building up his small country restaurant.
Natalia Abbakumova, Kate Brady, Amar Nadhir, Isobel Koshiw and Susan Svrluga contributed to this report.