Ukraine strikes a Russian airfield used to launch Shahed drones. Ukraine gets first Mirage 2000 fighter jets from France. The UK will chair the next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Ukraine strikes Russian airfield used to launch Shahed drones
Ukrainian forces struck the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airfield in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight on Thursday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.
The airfield is being used to store and launch Shahed drones, and maintain aircraft utilized to attack Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The operation was carried out by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces in cooperation with other branches of the military.
“There are confirmations that [the drones] hit targets and there were explosions in the target area. A fire has started,” the General Staff said.
Ukrainian forces will continue to “strike the sites that facilitate Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its terror against civilians,” the statement reads.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, confirmed that one of the drone warehouses is located in the area near the airfield that was hit overnight.
The airfield is home to Russia’s 960th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment assigned to the military base no.75387. The unit is equipped with Su-25, Su-25UB, and Su-25SM3 fighter jets.
Ukraine gets first Mirage 2000 fighter jets from France
Ukraine has received a first batch of French Mirage 2000 fighter jets, according to statements from the defense ministries of France and Ukraine issued on Thursday. It’s the second type of Western aircraft the country now has in addition to F-16 jets handed over by allies last year.
Last June, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would transfer Mirage-2000 fighter jets to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots. He later referred specifically to the transfer of the Mirage 2000-5 version.
France also said it would train Ukrainian pilots and mechanics on Mirage jets over the course of six months. The training took place in France’s Nancy. The aircraft were later modified at the Cazaux air base in southwest France. French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu initially said Mirage 2000-5 fighters will arrive in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2025.
In a statement on X on Thursday, Lecornu confirmed the arrival of the first Mirage 2000 in Ukraine. He did not say how many planes were delivered. They arrived with Ukrainian pilots on board, after several months of training in France, Lecornu said.
In the months that preceded the delivery of the aircraft, France did not reveal the exact number of the jets to be sent to Ukraine. French daily “La Tribune” reported in October that the first delivery to Ukraine would be a batch of three aircraft. France was planning to deliver a total of six Mirage 2000-5 to Ukraine, according to a budget document published in October on behalf of the National Assembly’s defense committee.
The arrival of the Mirage jets provides a boost to the country’s air defense, yet it hardly marks a turning point of the war, Reserve Major and war veteran Oleksiy Hetman told Ukraine’s Radio NV. Ukraine needs at least 100 Western jets to get an edge over Russia, he said. “Twenty-thirty jets will improve the situation, but will change nothing,” Hetman added.
UK to chair next meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group
The UK will chair the next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, taking over the leadership of the gathering from the U.S. UK Defence Secretary, John Healey, will convene the group’s 26th meeting in Brussels next week, the UK Joint Delegation to NATO said on X Thursday. It marks the first time a U.S. defense secretary has not convened the meeting in its three-year history. Pete Hegseth, the new U.S. defense secretary, will be in attendance.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group will meet ahead of the NATO defense ministers’ meeting on Wednesday, February 12 “to discuss priorities for Ukraine as the international community continues to work together to support Ukraine in its fight against Putin’s illegal invasion,” the message reads.
The group of more than 50 nations was formed by the U.S. in April 2022 and is designed to coordinate military support for Ukraine’s defense.
There were concerns that the White House under Trump will not support the group. The previous meeting took place on January 9. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov then said that the next gathering had been agreed upon and will be held in February.
