The pilot of the F-16 fighter jet, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Hampton, said he doubted Russia would be able to form a strike squadron to strike Ukraine. Even if it worked out in Russia, the Patriot air defense system would be able to destroy enemy aircraft.

Hampton told about this in an interview with the publication "Voice of America".

According to the American pilot, he doubts that the Russian Federation currently has highly qualified specialists and equipment to form a strike aviation group.

"If they had these people, this and this equipment, why didn't they use it a year ago, right? I mean, why now?" said Hampton.

He also said that Moscow is very strong in propaganda. All information about the power of the Russian army comes from the Russian Federation itself. For example, if a strike squadron is formed from bombers, then Ukrainian MiG-29s can cope with them.

"And don't forget the Patriot, the Patriot will chew them up and spit them out," the pilot said.

In addition, Hampton said that in the long term, Ukraine could be helped by the latest F-16 fighter jets, called Block-70. According to the pilot, this is a very powerful aircraft. Moreover, in the future, Ukraine could go further to acquire F-35s.

Earlier, US Permanent Representative to the OSCE Michael Carpenter during a meeting of the organization's Permanent Council said that Russian propaganda is gradually becoming more absurd and claims that the Russian army has already destroyed several dozen Patriot complexes in Ukraine.

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