Russia falsely claims Romanian F‑16s conducting missions over Odesa

Russian propaganda services are once again spreading false information about Romanian F-16s, reports Defence Romania. This time, the Russians claim to see them flying over Odesa, allegedly carrying out combat missions. The Romanian Ministry of Defense quickly refuted the Russian reports, emphasizing that national F-16s conduct training and observation missions exclusively in their airspace and under international law. What is known about these fighters?

"We are notifying you about a new disinformation attempt by propaganda channels linked to the Russian Federation in connection with a series of flight missions carried out last week by F-16 aircraft in Ukrainian airspace in the Odesa region," the Romanian Ministry of Defense announced via the Inforadar platform. According to Defence Romania, the Russians claimed that F-16 fighters are taking off from Romanian airports and carrying out combat missions over Ukraine.

This is not the first time the Russians have tried to spread disinformation about Romanian F-16 fighters. For example, in January 2024, a report appeared on social media about an alleged attack by a Romanian F-16C fighter on Russian units stationed near Kherson in Ukraine. However, this was a rather unsuccessful attempt at manipulating facts, as Romania does not even possess F-16 fighters in the C version, which the Romanian defense ministry pointed out at the time.

The Romanian Air Force has F-16 fighters in the A/B construction version, upgraded to MLU 5.2 and MLU 6.5. We are talking about 17 fighters purchased from Portugal and 32 fighters acquired from Norway after Oslo retired them from service. These are multi-role machines with an estimated range of 2,000 miles, capable of flying at speeds up to 1,300 mph and operating at an altitude of up to 9 miles. These fighters are armed with a six-barrel 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon. Additionally, depending on the type of mission, they can carry a wide range of weapons, such as AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles or Paveway or JDAM bombs.

Since the announcement of F-16 deliveries to Ukraine, much time has passed, allowing Russia to prepare for their arrival, as noted some time ago in an interview with WP Tech by former ground forces commander Gen. Waldemar Skrzypczak. Preparations include bringing air defense systems to eastern Ukraine and preparing plans for airports that could serve Ukrainians as F-16 bases.

Another element has been added to this list. This involves increasing the motivation of soldiers to eliminate Western aircraft. Defence Romania reports that on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced a reward of 15 million rubles (about $170,000) for shooting down the first F-16 fighter in Ukraine. Previously, Russian authorities announced similar rewards for destroying Abrams tanks or Patriot systems.