It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

Zelenskyy welcomed the ‘’historic’’ announcement and praised Rutte for making the Netherlands the first country to offer the planes.

The announcement came minutes after the two leaders inspected two gray F-16 jets parked in a hangar at the Dutch base in the southern city of Eindhoven.

“It makes me proud that Denmark, together with the Netherlands, will donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine’s fight for freedom against Russia and its senseless aggression.

The Dutch and Danish governments are also involved in a coalition that is working to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the advanced fighter jets.

In a video message earlier Sunday, Zelenskyy vowed a stern retaliation for a Russian missile strike the previous day in the center of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv that killed seven people and wounded over 100 others.

The original article contains 591 words, the summary contains 158 words. Saved 73%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!