Reuters. The first French Mirage 2000 fighter jets arrived on Thursday (February 6) in Ukraine, French Defence minister Sébastien Lecornu wrote on social media platform X.
Paris delivered the first batch on Thursday after Ukrainian pilots have been training in France in recent months, Lecornu added.
The fighter jets, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, “will now participate in defending the skies of Ukraine” against attacks by Russian missiles and aircraft, the post read.
The delivery to Ukraine of Mirage 2000s, gradually withdrawn from service in France in favour of the Rafale, had been envisaged for years, but Kyiv initially favoured the acquisition of a larger number of American F-16s supplied by several European countries.