The Department of Defense initially confirmed that Ukraine had received fighter planes from at least one other country for the first time since the Russian invasion began. However, the agency then walked the statement back.
Ukrainian forces “right now have available to them more fixed-wing fighter aircraft than they did two weeks ago,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday.
“Some nations have provided spare parts … to get some of their fixed-wing aircraft, you know, more operable again,” he added.
When asked how many more operable aircraft that made for Ukraine, Kirby responded:
“I would just say, without getting into what other nations are providing, that they (Ukrainian forces) have received additional platforms and parts to be able to increase their fleet size — their aircraft fleet size, I think I’d leave it at that. Platforms and parts.”
Asked for clarification on the definition of a platform, he replied, “Platform is an airplane in this case. They have received additional aircraft and aircraft parts to help them, you know, get more aircraft in the air. Yes.”
However, he now says that was a mistake — the additional aircraft at Ukraine’s disposal are available due to the donation of aircraft parts, not whole planes.
In a press release on Wednesday, Kirby explained his error.
“Yesterday (April 19), I said at the briefing that Ukraine had received ‘whole aircraft,'” said the spokesman. “I didn’t say the word ‘whole,’ but that was the impression that I gave you. I was mistaken. They have not received whole aircraft from another nation. I had been given to understand that an offer made by another nation in the region to provide whole fixed-wing aircraft to Ukraine had been effected. It has not. So I was in error in saying that, in past tense, they had been given whole aircraft. I regret the error.”
Ukraine’s government has requested NATO members supply the country with fighter planes consistently since the start of the Russian invasion, but such proposals have so far been rejected.
The NATO alliance has been wary of being perceived as taking a direct part in the fight against Moscow’s soldiers for fear of the conflict spreading beyond Ukraine’s borders.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine urged Western nations for weeks to “close the sky” – or establish a no-fly zone (NFZ). While he has since toned down his rhetoric, he has now adopted the policy of stating that if his Western backers are unwilling to commit to an NFZ, they can at least provide aircraft.
Specifically, the country is asking for MiG-29 fighters, which its pilots are qualified to operate.
The news of Ukraine’s now-bolstered aircraft fleet comes as President Joe Biden is believed to be preparing a new $800 million weaponry package for the country, bringing the total military aid granted to more than $3 billion since the invasion began.
