Russia thwarts drone attacks as US confirms Ukraine will get F-16s

Russia said it thwarted Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and on its Black Sea naval fleet, as Denmark and the Netherlands confirmed receiving formal approval from the United States to give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine when its pilots have been trained to fly them.

Moscow officials said a Ukrainian strike drone was shot down near the city centre and debris crashed into an exhibition centre about 4km from the Kremlin and 1km from a business complex containing government offices that were hit twice by drones earlier this month.

The defence ministry in Moscow said its patrol boats in the Black Sea off the coast of occupied Crimea destroyed a marine drone carrying explosives before it could strike any Russian vessels. In recent months Ukraine is believed to have used sea drones to inflict significant damage on a Russian warship, a Russian tanker and the main bridge linking Russia to Crimea, which is a key supply route for Kremlin forces fighting in southern Ukraine.

Both countries are making extensive use of drones for reconnaissance in frontline areas and as attack weapons deep inside enemy territory.

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Ukraine is using drones and rockets, including many provided by allies, to hit Russian command posts and fuel and arms depots dozens of kilometres behind the front line in a bid to disrupt Russia’s supply lines and weaken its hold on occupied areas, while urging western capitals to provide longer-range missiles and US-made F-16 fighter jets.

[ Ukraine braces for another winter of war without western fighter jets ]

The White House gave verbal approval to an F-16 supply plan in May, with the Netherlands and Denmark agreeing to lead the training, but repeated delays mean Kyiv has now publicly accepted that the planes will not be in service until some time next year.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has now written to the Danish and Dutch governments to formally approve handover of F-16s to Kyiv once training is complete.

“I am writing to express the United States’ full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors,” he reportedly wrote in the letter. “It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty.”

Dutch foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra said: “We welcome Washington’s decision to pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine … Now we will further discuss the subject with our European partners.”

Danish defence minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said Copenhagen had “said several times that a donation (of F-16s) is a natural next step after training. We are discussing it with close allies, and I expect we will soon be able to be more concrete about that.”

Ukraine has received high-tech air defence systems from allies including the United States, Germany, Britain, Norway, France and Italy, but says it needs more before another winter of likely Russian bombardment of its energy grid and amid heavy missile and drone strikes on other civilian infrastructure around the country, including its Black Sea ports.

The first cargo vessel to leave Odesa since Russia pulled out of a deal last month to allow grain shipments from the port reached Istanbul safely on Friday.

Meanwhile, Turkey warned Moscow against any repeat of an incident last Sunday in which Russian marines performed an armed stop-and-search operation on a Turkish-owned cargo ship sailing across the Black Sea to the Ukrainian port of Izmail.

“After the [Russian] intervention, our interlocutors in the Russian Federation were warned appropriately to avoid such attempts, which escalate tensions in the Black Sea,” said the office of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.