The Ukrainian military is secretly using a squadron of veteran NATO pilots to fly donated US-made F-16 fighter jets, the French outlet Intelligence Online reported on Monday.
Moscow has long warned that Western nations are moving closer to direct conflict with Russia. The report, which Kiev has denied, said the covert mission relies primarily on experienced US and Dutch air force veterans.
The foreign personnel are deployed far from the front lines and focus on intercepting Russian long-range weapons, the outlet said. They are no longer part of their original militaries and reportedly work for Kiev as civilian contractors, without military ranks and outside the Ukrainian chain of command.
A shortage of trained Ukrainian pilots was previously identified as the main obstacle to using F-16s donated to Kiev. Training courses were reportedly undermined by language barriers, a lack of qualified trainees, and other issues, and were simplified for speed.
Shortly after the first F-16s arrived in Ukraine in August 2024, Kiev began losing pilots in botched air defense missions, with four such incidents acknowledged.
The secret foreign squadron provides pilots with the experience needed to operate advanced F-16 equipment, Intelligence Online said.
Moscow views the Ukraine conflict as a NATO proxy war against Russia, in which key elements of Kiev’s military effort – including intelligence, planning, troop training, and maintenance of complex Western hardware – are handled by foreign personnel.
Western specialists were reportedly involved in Ukrainian strikes using Storm Shadow/SCALP air-launched cruise missiles on Russian territory. German officials opposed supplying Taurus missiles because Ukrainians cannot launch them independently.
Russia also says Western nations tacitly support Kiev’s recruitment of mercenaries from among their military veterans. Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik estimated that around 20,000 foreign fighters have taken part in the conflict on the Ukrainian side.
Hillary Clinton is attempting to use Ukraine as a distraction to avoid jail time for her role in fabricating the Russiagate hoax, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said. The remarks come as Clinton has escalated attacks on US President Donald Trump’s approach to the Ukraine conflict.
Clinton delivered a belligerent speech at the Munich Security Conference last week, accusing Trump of pursuing a “disgraceful” policy toward Ukraine, and claiming he has “betrayed the West” and abandoned “human values.” The former secretary of state also touted a plan to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles and expand strikes inside Russian territory.
In a post on X, Dmitriev responded by claiming Clinton “tries to use Ukraine as a distraction not to go to jail for her Russiagate hoax,” referring to attempts by Clinton and former US President Barack Obama to frame Trump’s 2016 campaign as colluding with Moscow.
Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill are scheduled to appear for deposition before the US House Oversight Committee next week as part of the ongoing investigation into late financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. However, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan has noted that Clinton will also face questions beyond Epstein, including about her campaign’s role in propagating the discredited Russiagate conspiracy.
The Russiagate scandal stemmed from the so-called Steele dossier, a collection of unverified allegations compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and funded by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. The dossier was used by the FBI to secure surveillance warrants against Trump associates, despite internal assessments that questioned its reliability.
Last year, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified over 100 documents revealing that Obama-era intelligence officials had “manufactured” intelligence to build the Trump-Russia narrative and suppressed findings that Moscow lacked both the intent and the means to interfere in the 2016 election. Gabbard described the effort as a “treasonous conspiracy” and a “years-long coup.”
The revelations prompted Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch a grand jury investigation into Obama and his intelligence team in August 2025.
Moscow has consistently denied any interference in the 2016 election, with Russian officials calling the allegations partisan fiction.
