Russian Ambassador to Netherlands Called F-16 and Its Airfields Legitimate Military Targets for Russia

Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Vladimir Tarabrin, said that Russia views permission to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by the Dutch authorities as an escalating move. He stressed that the Russian side would consider the fighters and the airfields from which they take off as legitimate military targets.

On July 2, the Netherlands issued permission to export 24 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, with the first plane planned to be sent "in the near future" this summer.

“One of the hasty decisions is, of course, permission to export F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Together with the previously given consent by the Dutch authorities to the use of Western weapons by the Kyiv regime against objects on Russian territory, we consider this as a conscious move by the Hague towards escalating the conflict and destabilizing the situation,” the Russian ambassador told Russian state media RIA Novosti (РИА Новости).