The Dutch military said that as long as Ukraine complies with the laws of war, it can use the F-16 fighter jets and weapons provided by the Netherlands to attack targets within Russian territory, with no restrictions on their use or range.
According to the NL Times, Dutch Armed Forces Commander Onno Eichelsheim stated in an interview with NOS that “as long as the laws of war are respected, we will not impose any restrictions on the use and range of F-16s.”
Ukraine entered the Kursk region of Russia on August 6, claiming to have occupied over 100 border checkpoints in Russian territory. Eichelsheim referred to this as a “splendid” attack.
Regarding Ukraine’s defensive use of weapons provided by the Netherlands, Eichelsheim expressed no objections, stating, “As long as the laws of war and humanitarian principles are followed, Ukraine can freely utilize the resources we provide.”
The Dutch government had previously promised to provide 24 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, but Eichelsheim did not disclose how many have already been supplied to Ukraine.
Eichelsheim stated that the current issue is how Ukraine will leverage its position in Kursk. “You can use it as a bargaining chip, and then you can achieve something in negotiations. Or you can use it to ensure the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Donbas region? We don’t think the latter will happen, so time will tell us what kind of strategic impact this will have.”
According to the UK’s The Times, Ukraine has received six F-16 fighter jets provided by the Netherlands. Several countries, including Belgium, Denmark, and Norway, have collectively pledged to provide 79 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is actively working to increase that number to 120 to 130 jets to effectively combat Russia in the air.
In a previous report by Epoch Times, a Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet crashed on August 26 while intercepting Russian missile attacks, resulting in the death of an excellent pilot. This was the first such incident since the arrival of F-16 jets in Ukraine in August.
On August 30, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force stated that American experts have joined the investigation into the crash of the F-16 fighter jet.
In his evening address on the same day, Zelensky announced that he had removed Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk from his position and called for “strengthening” the command level of the Air Force, but did not clarify whether his decision to dismiss Oleshchuk was related to the F-16 crash incident.