Watch: First F-16s Spotted in Skies Over Ukraine

Footage widely circulating on social media appears to show the first F-16s donated to Kyiv take to Ukraine's skies after a drawn-out wait for the advanced fighter aircraft.

One image, reportedly snapped over the Lviv region of Western Ukraine, purported to show a Ukrainian-operated F-16. A video shared across social media claimed to be of a Ukrainian-piloted F-16. Newsweek could not independently verify the footage.

Reports indicated on Wednesday that the first of the Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighter jets pledged to Kyiv had arrived in Ukraine. Bloomberg first reported the delivery.

Six jets have been supplied to Ukraine by the Netherlands, with Danish aircraft soon to follow, London's The Times newspaper reported.

In early July, then-Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said that "the delivery of the first aircraft will take place soon."

"F-16s in Ukraine," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. "Another impossible thing turned out to be totally possible," Landsbergis added, appearing to confirm the delivery. An anonymous U.S. official told Reuters that the jets had arrived in Ukraine.

Ukraine's air force has been tight-lipped about the F-16s arriving in the war-torn country. In early July, a spokesperson for Ukraine's air force declined to offer any details on how many jets would be part of the initial tranche and when they would arrive, describing this information as classified. Kyiv's air force has been contacted for comment.

The Netherlands has pledged a total of 24 F-16 jets to Ukraine as part of an international coalition with Denmark, Norway and Belgium to furnish Kyiv with advanced fighters. Ukraine will receive 19 Danish F-16s.

Ukraine will receive around 80 jets, a number that falls far short of the total number Kyiv has said it needs.

Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington in July, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the first F-16s were en route to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Blinken did not confirm the first F-16s arriving in Ukraine, but reiterated his previous remarks that F-16s would be "operational by the end of the summer."

Ukraine's Western backers were reluctant to pledge the fourth-generation jets, which were a much-larger commitment than equipment such as tanks or artillery systems that featured in military aid packages throughout the war.

The jets will be a significant upgrade to Ukraine's air force, battered by more than two years of war against the Russians' superior and larger fleet. Russia has used its aircraft, flying outside of the reach of Kyiv's air defenses, to launch devastating aerial guided bomb strikes on Ukraine.

Britain's The Telegraph newspaper reported on Wednesday that Ukraine had used F-16s only as an air defense asset so far.

The timelines for getting the jets operational in Ukraine have been murky and prone to delays. Ukrainian pilots have been receiving training in NATO nations, although tension has become visible between Kyiv and its allies over just how many pilots can be put through training.

Ukraine's backers also stipulated that the necessary infrastructure and facilities must be up and running in the country before the jets can be used.

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