White House’s ‘red lines’ disappear after Ukraine shoots down six Kinzhals over Kyiv, says expert

“After confirming that six Kinzhal missiles were shot down over Kyiv, the rhetoric regarding escalation or any red lines vanished from the White House,” Kyrychevskyi said.

The expert linked this development to the United States agreeing to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighters, as Russia no longer possesses any “wunderwaffe” (a term popularized by Nazi propaganda to refer to a series of revolutionary new weapons, many of which remained at the prototype stage).

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“This moment is noteworthy. Up until May, there was still something, even within the White House, that conveyed a desire to avoid escalation, and then came such a sharp turn. We have always advocated for the transfer of aircraft; we simply lacked the necessary resources.”

“We are all for it, and we might even consider whether the US could provide its own F-16s. It’s such a complex situation when we discuss aircraft and how it could be perceived as a form of escalation, for instance,” he explained.

The Air Defense Forces successfully intercepted and destroyed six Kinzhal missiles launched from six MiG-31K aircraft on the night of May 16.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on May 16 that the Netherlands, France and Great Britain were in support of a coalition of fighters for Ukraine.

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US President Joe Biden informed G7 allies that he supports joint training of Ukrainian military personnel on F-16 aircraft, as reported by US news channel CNN on May 19.

In the coming months, allies will collaborate to determine the timing, recipients, and quantity of aircraft to be delivered to Ukraine, said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on May 20.

Ukraine had successfully downed a Russian aerial ballistic missile Kinzhal in the Kyiv area on the night of May 4, marking the first time such an event had occurred, Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mykola Oleshchuk, confirmed on May 6.

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