Norway will donate US-made F-16 combat aircraft to Ukraine, its prime minister announced during a visit to Kyiv, joining an effort led by the Netherlands and Denmark.
The announcement comes as Kyiv marks 32 years since it broke away from the USSR, and exactly 18 months since it was invaded by its former overlord, Russia.
F-16s have been on Ukraine's wish list for a long time because of their destructive power and global availability, which makes it easier to get spare parts.
The fighter jet, which is used by many NATO allies, is equipped with a powerful 20mm cannon, bombs, rockets and missiles.
"We are planning to donate Norwegian F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, and will provide further details about the donation, numbers and time frame for delivery, in due course," Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement.
Mr Stoere met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv today, where the pair announced Norwegian donations of anti-aircraft missiles and other equipment.
"The donation of these F-16 jets will significantly strengthen Ukraine's military capabilities," Norway's Defence Minister Bjoern Arild Gram said in the statement.
Last week, the Netherlands and Denmark donated more than 60 of the fighters to Ukraine.
Overnight attacks
At least 13 people were wounded in Russian missile attacks on Ukraine, local officials said.
Ten people were injured in the central city of Dnipro and three people, including a child, were hurt in an attack on the southern city of Kherson.
A seven-year-old girl was injured in Russian shelling of the centre of Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Russia has regularly carried out strikes on Ukrainian centres far from the front line though it denies deliberately targeting civilians.
In a pre-recorded address to celebrate its independence, President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Ukrainian people for their "indomitability" and said each individual had a role to play.
"When we celebrate Ukraine's independence, everyone can feel a part of it," he said.
"And today I want to dedicate these congratulations to you. To you, who is giving Ukraine its independence."
Special operation
Separately, Ukraine's navy and military intelligence carried out a "special operation" overnight in which units landed on Russian-occupied Crimea, the defence ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) said.
The operation, which Reuters was unable to independently confirm, would amount to a rare demonstration that Ukrainian forces are able to stage ground operations in Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014.
Brief and dark video footage posted alongside the statement showed a small motorboat moving through water at night near a coastline. HUR said the landing point was on the western tip of Crimea, near the settlements of Olenivka and Mayak.
"Special units on watercraft landed on the shore in the area of the Olenivka and Mayak settlements," HUR said in a statement.
It said "all goals" had been achieved and casualties inflicted on the enemy, but did not identify the goals.
"Also, the state flag flew again in Ukrainian Crimea," it said, without saying where exactly or providing further details.
Russia did not comment on the report.
