The Ukrainian pilot said that the combat aircraft in Kyiv are running out

Moscow, February 2 – A Ukrainian military pilot with the call sign “Gus” said in an interview with the Financial Times that Kyiv is running out of fighter jets, parts for them and pilots capable of flying them.

An interview with the pilot, who wished to hide his face and real name, was published on the newspaper’s website on Thursday.

“All our planes are assembled in the Soviet Union, we will not be able to serve them indefinitely, the stock of ammunition is not endless, and the day when we will not have missiles and spare parts for these planes is getting closer and closer, and in the near future we may lose tactical aviation,” Goss said. completely”.

The pilot emphasized that Kyiv needed American F-16 fighters “yesterday”, and also complained about the MiG-29s inherited from the Soviet Union, for which he blames the “Gus” for the inability to shoot down a single air target. The authors of the article call the pilot the ace of their material.

“It is sad to turn back and land after the ‘chase’, knowing that your ‘prey’ has reached its target,” the pilot was quoted as saying.

The pilot also announced a shortage of qualified pilots in the ranks of the Ukrainian Air Force.

“If we wait another six months, the moment will come when instead of young, well-knowledgeable and well-trained pilots, only reservist grandfathers will remain,” Joss told reporters.

Earlier, the media reported that some representatives of the US administration are lobbying for the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to the Ukrainian army. US President Joe Biden previously answered “no” to a question from journalists if the F-16s would be delivered to the Ukrainian military. At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that he did not rule out the possibility of delivering planes to Ukraine. The media also wrote that Paris is considering Kyiv’s request to train Ukrainian pilots.

And the Russian Federation has previously sent a memorandum to all countries, including the United States, over the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has indicated that any shipment containing weapons to Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that NATO countries were “playing with fire” by supplying arms to Ukraine. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, noted that the injection of weapons into Ukraine from the West does not contribute to the success of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative impact.