UPDATED: Zelenskiy says F16s shooting down Russian missiles

Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for more F-16 fighter jets and more training for pilots to fly them as he revealed the western warplanes were used to shoot down Russian missiles during the last two days’ heavy attacks on Ukraine.

F-16s gave “a very good result,” Zelensky told reporters. “As part of this huge attack, we shot down some missiles and drones with the help of F-16s.”

“We thank our partners for providing us with the F-16s. Of course, this is not enough, we don’t have many of them, and we still need to train pilots,” Zelensky added.

Ukraine received its first F-16s by the beginning of August, a year after its allies formed the fighter jet coalition to provide training and aircraft to Ukraine.

Kyiv has been promised at least 79 F-16s from the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Belgium. Ukraine has reportedly received ten jets so far.

F-16s are expected to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi commenting on Aug. 4 that the arrival of the jets will result in “more downed missiles.”

Ukrainian drones set several oil tanks on fire at the Glubokinskaya oil depot in the Kamensky district of Russia’s Rostov region, several Russian Telegram channels monitored by Reuters reported on Wednesday. Rostov’s governor, Vasily Golubev, said several Ukraine-launched drones were destroyed over the region, which lies across the border from Ukraine’s Luhansk oblast. The Baza channel, which is close to Russia’s security services, said three tanks were burning after strikes by two drones.

The attack came while tanks were still on fire at another Rostov oil depot, in the Proletarsk district, 10 days after the depot was attacked, Russian Telegram channels report. Separately, Alexander Gusev, the governor of the Voronezh region that also borders Ukraine, said debris from a Ukrainian drone over the region sparked a fire “near explosive objects”. Gusev added that there was no detonation and the fire was extinguished after a temporary evacuation of residents. Russian officials regularly say damage was caused by debris from a drone that was shot down, rather than admitting that the drone hit its target.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region – which borders Ukraine and partly Ukrainian-occupied Kursk – said he was aware of reports that the Ukrainian army had tried to cross the border. “According to the Russian defence ministry, the situation on the border remains difficult but under control,” he said on social media.

Ukraine’s army chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, said his forces had made fresh gains in Kursk and controlled 100 towns and villages across 1,294 sq km (almost 500 sq miles). He claimed Russian forces had redeployed about 30,000 troops because of the Kursk incursion, and that Ukraine had taken 594 PoWs there, write Luke Harding and Pjotr Sauer.