Russian Billionaire Offers $$$$ Bounty for U.S.-Provided F-16s in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this year that his country would need about 128 of these fighters to match Russia’s air force

Sergey Shmotyev, a Russian billionaire, promised to give the first soldier to shoot down a U.S.-provided F-16 flying over Ukraine a $149,000 reward, according to a report.

RT, the Russian news outlet, reported that Shmotyev, the CEO of Urals-based company Fores, referred to rumors that one of the fourth-generation fighters was shot down over the Zaporizhia region — which would be the second fighter to be downed.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE TRENDS JOURNAL WEEKLY MAGAZINE

He said the reward is intended to support “those who risk their lives daily for the safety of the Motherland. We are proud of the heroism of our soldiers and will continue to provide them with comprehensive assistance.”

Vladimir Rogov, the co-chairman of Russia’s Coordination Council for the Integration of New Regions, announced on Telegram that the fighter jet was on the launch pad preparing for a strike when it was hit.

The decision by NATO countries to provide Ukraine with fighter jets welcomed a new escalation to the fight.

These jets can carry nuclear weapons. But the West has gotten bolder in its support for Ukraine as the war drags on.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this year that his country would need about 128 of these fighters to match Russia’s air force. He was expecting 20 of these jets by the end of the year.

TRENDPOST: Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s top diplomat, said last year that Moscow has expressed its deepest concerns that the West will be providing Ukraine with F-16s that can carry nuclear warheads, and said its forces will have to respond accordingly.

“We voiced our strongest concern at the meeting of experts of the Nuclear Five nations at the UN Security Council,” he recently said. “The Americans tried to downplay the issue saying, do you really think we will give Ukraine jets carrying nuclear weapons? We said that we are not even thinking. Our systems monitoring those jets will not be able to tell a plane carrying nuclear weapons from the one that is not carrying them. To answer your question about our response, it will be made by the military. They know what is to be done.”

But, as our readers know, Russia’s security concerns never mattered much to the West, which is why Moscow was forced to go to war in the first place. NATO expansion and a Western military presence in the country proved too large a pill for Moscow to swallow.