Zelensky Vows Russia Will Feel ‘Wrath’ of Ukraine With Arrival of Western F-16 Fighter Jets in New Year

In a defiant New Year’s address, President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that Russia would feel the “wrath” of Ukrainian weapons production, including a million new attack drones, and the expected arrival of F-16 fighter jets from the West in the coming year.

Speaking from Kyiv on Sunday evening, Zelensky proclaimed that “Ukraine is alive. Ukraine lives. Ukraine fights” while thanking the efforts of the hundreds of thousands of men fighting on the frontlines and the civilian population for their contributions to the war effort and “holding back the evil that has become even greater.”

“I want to thank all our people, our strong nation. Everyone who is here today. Everyone whom I want to tell: I am proud of all of you. Every Ukrainian citizen. Every strong person. And I know how difficult it is for everyone today. Everyone who has put their lives on hold. Who postponed everything for after the victory,” he said according to state media Ukrinform.

“And to this end, today we have to live by the rule: you either work or you fight. Because we have the world’s largest terrorist organization against us. And it is obvious how much more we have to do, how much more active we have to be, how much stronger our unity and struggle have to be.”

Despite the much-anticipated “Spring counteroffensive” — which in reality only began in earnest by the summer — failing to recapture any significant territory occupied by the heavily entrenched Russian forces, Zelensky vowed to continue the fight and to liberate “Crimea, Donbas, Luhansk region, Berdyansk, Melitopol, Mariupol” from Russian control.

The embattled leader pointed to increased weapons production in Ukraine, notably the production of a million new attack drones, and the expected delivery of American-made F-16 fighter jets over the next year as a source of optimism and a potential turning point for his depleted forces.

“Next year, the enemy will feel the wrath of domestic production,” Zelensky warned. “Our weapons, our equipment, artillery, our shells, our drones, our naval ‘greetings’ to the enemy and at least a million Ukrainian FPV drones. All of which we will generously use. On land, in the sky and, of course, at sea. Our Black Sea.”

“I thank all our partners for the fact that this year we already have Patriots, IRIS-T, HIMARS, NASAMS, Hawk, Abrams, Leopards and many more. And our pilots are already mastering F-16 jets, and we will definitely see them in our skies. So that our enemies can certainly see what our real wrath is,” he added.

President Zelensky previously blamed the failures of his counteroffensive on the West not supplying F-16 military planes, allowing, in his view, Russia to have air superiority on the battlefield.

So far, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway have all vowed to supply Kyiv with the American-made fighter jets, however, the delivery has been slowed due to Ukrainian pilots needing to be trained to operate the advanced warplanes before any shipments take place.

Although there was not much to celebrate in terms of battlefield successes over the past year, Zelensky hailed the “historic victory” for Ukraine in moving towards joining the European Union.

“Ukrainians are stronger than any blockades and vetoes, disbelief or scepticism. A country that is implementing extremely difficult and necessary reforms and changes during the war. And as a result, a country that is now awaited in the European Union. And these are not just words – these are official decisions, official documents. And this process will definitely have a logical conclusion – full-fledged membership in strong Europe. A powerful one. From Lisbon to Luhansk.”

However, despite Zelensky’s confidence and the expansionist desires of Eurocrats in Brussels to see Ukraine admitted into the bloc on an accelerated timeframe, its membership is by no means a foregone conclusion, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán threatening to veto ascension proceedings.

Orbán has argued that it would not be wise to admit a country at war and with its borders in dispute into the alliance, given that it could potentially drag Europe into a direct war with Russia. The Hungarian leader has said that the West should at the very least seek a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv before making any move to admit Ukraine into the EU.

With little to no pressure being applied from Washington, Brussels, or London, there does not seem to be any prospect of peace talks in the near future. As with Zelensky’s New Year’s address vowing “wrath”, Russia’s Vladimir Putin also showed no signs of wanting to end the conflict, vowing in his speech to the nation on Sunday that Russia “will never back down“.

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