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The pilot, Colonel Alexei ‘Moonfish’ Mes, destroyed three cruise missiles and one drone on Monday, before he died in a crash.
Ukraine’s military has confirmed an F-16 fighter jet that was delivered only months ago has crashed, in a major blow to Kyiv’s air defences.
The pilot, Colonel Alexei “Moonfish” Mes, destroyed three Russian cruise missiles and one attack drone on Monday, before he died in the crash and was buried on Thursday, the military said in a statement.
“During the approach to the next target, communication with one of the aircraft was lost. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, the pilot died,” the General Staff said.
A US defence official told Reuters the crash did not appear to be the result of Russian fire, and possible causes ranging from pilot error to mechanical failure were still being investigated.
However, the Ukrainian Defence Force said it does not believe pilot error was behind the incident, the source said.
The incident is being investigated by Ukraine’s Defence Ministry and international experts will be invited to participate in the probe, the source added.
The crash was the first reported loss of an F-16 in Ukraine after the first batch of six arrived at the end of last month.
Joe Biden granted authorisation in August last year for the US-built warplanes to be sent to Ukraine. That came after months of pressure from Kyiv and internal debate in the US administration, where officials feared the move could escalate tensions with the Kremlin.
Ukraine is still due to receive more aircraft from the US, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway – all Nato members. They have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 of the planes.
US officials said at the end of last month that the first of a batch of F-16s promised by European countries had arrived in Ukraine.
That number is dwarfed by the Russian jet fighter fleet, which is around 10 times larger, while Ukrainian pilots are having to speed through a training process in months – when the usual training period takes three years.
The loss of the F-16 will be a major blow to Ukraine’s beleaguered air defence systems that are crucial for intercepting missiles and striking Russian targets.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that his country’s air force had used F-16s to destroy missiles and drones launched by Russia on Monday – the first time any Ukrainian official had confirmed the jets were being utilised in combat.
Russia has carried out a week-long assault, with nightly missile and drone barrages killing civilians while inflicting damage on energy facilities and infrastructure.
An Iskander-M ballistic missile from Crimea and 18 Shahed drones were fired at Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, with 12 intercepted, while nine people were wounded in an air strike in Sumy, north-eastern Ukraine, in the early hours of Friday, according to Ihor Kalchenko, head of Sumy military administration.
This follows Russian forces firing five missiles and 74 Shahed drones on Thursday. Air defences stopped two missiles and 60 drones, and 14 other drones are thought to have fallen, Ukraine oficials said.
Authorities in the capital, Kyiv, said debris of destroyed drones fell in three districts, causing minor damage to civilian infrastructure.
Russia’s long-range strikes on civilian areas have been a feature of the war since it invaded its neighbour in February 2022, and Ukraine wants to return the fire by striking deep inside Russian territory.
But restrictions remain in place on several long-range missiles from partners, such as US-made ATACMS, British Storm Shadows, and the French SCALP.
In a show of support, the EU’s top diplomat on Thursday ramped up pressure on Ukraine’s international backers to lift restrictions, to allow its armed forces to strike targets inside Russia.
“The weaponry that we are providing to Ukraine has to have full use, and the restrictions have to be lifted in order for the Ukrainians to be able to target the places where Russia is bombing them. Otherwise, the weaponry is useless,” Josep Borrell told reporters as the bloc’s foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky renewed his pleas for Western allies to untie his hands in deciding what to strike on Russian soil.
“All our partners should be more active – much more active – in countering Russian terror,” he said on Wednesday. “We continue to insist that their determination now – lifting the restrictions on long-range strikes for Ukraine now – will help us to end the war as soon as possible in a fair way for Ukraine and the world as a whole.”
Ukraine this week tested its first domestically produced ballistic missile. Mr Zelensky told the Ukraine 2024 Independence forum in Kyiv: “It may be too early to talk about it but I want to share it with you,” saying the test’s result was “positive”.
He congratulated the country’s defence industry on the project but provided no further detail. He said he shared the news “so that Ukrainian society would know and appreciate domestic defence producers working 24/7”.
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