Moscow warns NATO-supplied jets ´legitimate target´ in Ukraine

Any fighter jets that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will supply to Ukraine will become legitimate military targets for the Russian armed forces, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

"Fighters that will be used in the conflict by the Ukrainian armed forces ... will become legitimate targets for destruction wherever they may fly from," Zakharova said during her weekly press briefing.

Meanwhile, she noted that the risk of a direct military clash between NATO and Russia was only increasing.

She said that NATO countries had been discussing the supply of F-16 fighters for a long time, adding that the bloc's members had already formed a special coalition of countries that would help transfer the aircraft and train Ukrainian pilots.

Zakharova said that it is possible that such U.S. fighters would be based in Poland, Slovakia or Romania, warning that NATO is becoming even more involved in the conflict and is essentially waging a hybrid war against Russia.