F-16 warplanes being sent to Ukraine is a victory for President Volodymyr Zelensky and will help protect against Russian strikes, but they are not a one-stop solution for gaps in the country’s air defenses.

The United States, the Netherlands and Denmark announced Wednesday that the transfer of the planes had begun, saying Ukraine “will be flying operational F-16s this summer.”

Zelensky had repeatedly pushed for the US-made warplanes to help counter Russia’s invasion, with the United States eventually acceding last year after initially insisting that focusing on ground-based air defenses was a better use of resources.

“As a symbolic effort, it’s tremendously important… This was really the last item that Zelensky had highlighted as important for Ukrainian defense,” said Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He noted that there has been a series of weapons systems — HIMARS rocket launchers, Patriot air defense batteries, Abrams tanks, ATACMS missiles — that Washington was reluctant to provide but eventually agreed to donate to Kyiv.