According to a senior US defence official, the Ukrainian Air Force has added around 20 operational aircraft to its fleet. Though the officials would not specify which country supplied the aircraft parts, he stated Wednesday that the US and other countries collaborated “to get them the parts they need to get them in the air.”

Despite Russia’s ongoing invasion, the flow of spare parts has enabled Ukraine to expand its fleet of operational military aircraft. They now have more aircraft than they did three weeks ago, according to the official. A day earlier, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby announced that Ukraine had received additional fighter aircraft to supplement its existing fleet.

However, on Wednesday, a senior defence official retracted that statement, stating that Ukraine had not received additional aircraft but had instead received aircraft parts to upgrade the operational capability of its existing aircraft. On the other hand, a senior defence official backtracked on that statement on Wednesday, claiming that Ukraine had not received additional aircraft but rather aircraft parts to enhance the functionality of their existing fleet.

Still, the official intimated that at least one country was considering sending Ukraine more aircraft.