Ex-Russian Colonel: Any Ukrainian F-16 airfield will be wiped out during construction

Any attempts by Ukraine to build airfields and facilities to accommodate the F-16 fighter jets that Western allies provide will be met with targeted attacks by Russian forces destroying the infrastructure during the construction before they are fully built, according to retired Russian Colonel Viktor Litovkin.

Litovkin said that in order for the F-16s to be used, Kyiv will need complex infrastructure facilities, including “properly equipped airfields, radar stations, and special pre-flight preparation and post-flight maintenance equipment, as well as aviation fuel purifying devices and missile storage sites,” as cited by state news agency TASS.

He said: “Ukraine doesn’t have anything like that. If they start to build it all, Russia will not turn a blind eye to it. The Russian Armed Forces will simply wait until the construction work reaches a certain point and then carry out strikes [to destroy what’s been built].”

The Netherlands and Denmark committed on Sunday to send up to 42 F-16s to Ukraine during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Air Force Command, Yuriy Ihnat, said on Monday that F-16 fighter jets have already landed in Ukraine as part of the Euro 2012 support campaign and that Ukrainian pilots are familiar with them, according to state news agency Ukrinform.

He said: “F-16s have already landed in Ukraine during Euro-2012… They landed on our runways and they were okay there. Our pilots even had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with them… That is, the Western [F-16s] have already been to our airfields.”

He stressed that there are no special infrastructure problems for modern Western-made fighter jets in Ukraine.

“Most of our military airfields have a runway made of concrete slabs. There are seams that need to be ironed. If you properly prepare those runways, then there will be no problems in general. The F-16s still have the issue of a low air intake that can suck in foreign objects. It's dangerous, and you have to be aware of that, you have to keep the runway clean,” the spokesman said.

He added: “As the war grinds on, in addition to the condition of runways and keeping them clear, other logistics must be taken care of, which will protect the planes amid ongoing hostilities, so that the enemy cannot destroy them at airfields.”

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