A shortage of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems is forcing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to increasingly use F-16 fighter jets to intercept Russian cruise missiles over Odesa, according to Sergey Lebedev, coordinator of the pro-Russian Mykolaiv underground, who spoke to RIA Novosti.
According to Lebedev, Ukrainian forces are scrambling the US-made fighter jets to hunt cruise missiles. He provided a video that he said showed an F-16 flying over Odesa.
The practice comes amid daily Russian strikes that, since mid-July, have targeted Ukrainian vessels and port infrastructure used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including facilities in the Odesa region.
Lebedev said each F-16 sortie is costly, while claiming that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are unable to fully service the fighter jets inside Ukraine. He also said the Russian Aerospace Forces use decoy targets to force Ukrainian aircraft into the air. According to the underground representative, a Ukrainian military aircraft was previously shot down over Odesa after being lured into the air in this manner.
At the same time, the underground claims that Ukrainian forces are beginning to run short of air-to-air missiles. Lebedev attributed the dwindling stocks to the destruction of a warehouse containing such munitions outside Kyiv.