Romanian F-16 fighters struck Russian forces in Kherson?

Reports about a secret F-16 combat mission in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine are not true, the Romanian Defence Ministry said. Romanian fighter jets were not used to attack the positions of the Russian troops, ministry representatives said.

"We are warning you about fake news that appeared on X platform account, which claims that an F-16C aircraft took off from the 86th air base in Constanta on Saturday at 03:22 and bombed a group of Russian forces near Kherson," the Romanian Defence Ministry said.

The department called such statements absurd and stressed that the Romanian Air Force did not have F-16 fighters in C design variant — only A and B.

Information about Romanian F-16C striking the Kherson region appeared on Ukraine Front Lines account on X (formerly Twitter). It was also said that as it was impossible to deploy fighters on the territory of Ukraine, so NATO allies proceeded to use its army bases and personnel in neighbouring country.

Ukrainian Air Force speaker Yuriy Ignat called the above message false.

Ignat admitted that Kyiv would not be able to accept F-16 fighters, even if European allies could transfer them. Ukraine does not have the required infrastructure necessary to maintain the F-16, nor does it have pilots to operate the aircraft.

In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine can not receive a large number of F-16 fighter jets from Western partners as the Russian forces may immediately obliterate them, Ignat also noted.