Retired Major General and honored military pilot Vladimir Popov suggested in an interview with aif.ru that Western-supplied F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets handed over to Kiev are unlikely to be stationed at the Nezhin airbase in Chernigov Region. Instead, he believes they are kept at other airfields closer to the borders with Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

Popov explained that Nezhin functions as a forward operating airfield — a location used for refueling or emergency takeoffs when Ukrainian aircraft need to approach Russian territory quickly. Permanent deployment, however, is organized at air bases in Starokonstantinov, Stryi, and at facilities near Vinnitsa, Uzhgorod, and Mukachevo.

According to him, it is improbable that F-16s or Mirage 2000s are present in Nezhin, as Ukraine has only four such aircraft left. He added that these planes are most likely hidden at more distant sites near the western borders, where they could benefit from additional cover from neighboring NATO states.