Report: U.S. Rejected Proposal To Send F-16 Technicians To Ukraine

The White House rejected a Pentagon proposal to send U.S. specialist contractors to Ukraine to help maintain F-16 fighters and other Western military equipment over security concerns, unidentified U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ said the U.S. intelligence community considered the plan too risky as Russian could "target American contractors in Ukraine." Instead, the report said, U.S. officials hope responsibilities for servicing the F-16s will be taken up by European nations. At the end of July, Ukraine received six of the 80 F-16 fighters it had been promised, but without civilian technicians. On August 26, a U.S.-made F-16 crashed, killing the pilot, Ukraine’s military said. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.