The newspaper cited two Western officials it did not name as saying that Moscow was preparing to throw its fighter jets and helicopters into the war against Kyiv to support a stuttering land offensive.
The fear of a looming air war in Ukraine has prompted Ukraine's allies to prioritise rapid shipments of air defence assets and artillery ammunition to Kyiv, the FT said in an article penned by Felicia Schwartz and Henry Foy.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Wednesday he was confident Western countries would supply fighter jets to his country to help it fight Russia's invasion even though some have been hesitant so far, the Reuters news agency reported.
It quoted Reznikov as saying in an interview that Ukraine's allies had already ended up providing a range of
Western weapons systems after initially saying they would not do so.
"Impossible became possible," Reznikov said, as quoted by Reuters.
He argued that fighter jets were needed as part of a broader system of air defences to protect Ukraine from Russian attacks, Reuters reported.
Wednesday is day 357 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(gs)
Source: ft.com, Reuters
