An F-16 fighter jet used by Ukraine crashed on Monday, Kiev’s military said, marking the first such loss since Kiev confirmed the arrival of the long-awaited US-made planes to the country this month.
The Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement on Facebook on Thursday that the plane was shot down while approaching its target during a Russian air strike, killing its pilot.
The statement said the F-16s “demonstrated high combat efficiency” and shot down four Russian cruise missiles. “While moving to the next target, one of the aircraft lost contact. It was later learned that the aircraft crashed and the pilot was killed,” the statement said.
Ukraine has not provided detailed information on the size of its new fleet, though the losses are likely to be substantial. Ukraine has six jets, the Times of London reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on August 4 that his pilots had begun flying F-16s, calling the moment a major milestone in the fight against Russia’s invasion launched 29 months ago.
He said on Tuesday that F-16s were used to thwart a massive attack of more than 200 missiles and drones launched by Russia targeting the energy sector a day earlier.
A U.S. defense official told Reuters that Monday’s crash did not appear to be the result of Russian gunfire, and that possible causes ranging from pilot error to mechanical failure were still being investigated.
Military analysts have said the arrival of a small number of aircraft, while significant, would not mark a turning point in the conflict.
Russia had time to prepare defenses to neutralize the impact of the F-16s, and Ukraine had to make do with its weak air force, which is far inferior in size and sophistication to its adversary.
The Ukrainian Air Force’s Western Command posted news of the death of pilot Oleksiy Mace on Facebook, saying he died while thwarting Monday’s attack but did not say he was an F-16 pilot.
Mace’s call sign was Moonfish and that he was training for F-16 missions in 2023, CNN said.
Since Russia’s invasion, Kiev has been urging its allies to supply it with modern jets to bolster its small and aging Soviet fleet.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
