Ukraine lost the first of its F-16 fighter jets on Monday just weeks after the first of the US-made aircraft arrived in Ukraine, according to US government.
The Pentagon claimed that the Jet likely crashed due to pilot error. The incident occurred during a massive missile attack.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on August 7 that F-16 fighters would not become a magic pill that could influence the course of hostilities and “will be consistently destroyed by the Russian armed forces.”
According to the Ukraine military, the F-16 shot down four Russian cruise missiles during the attack, demonstrating “high efficiency.”
“During the approach to the next target, communication with one of the jets was lost. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, the pilot was killed,” the General Staff said.
Russia’s Kommersant media reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 27 said that “F-16s shot down some missiles” during the attack the day before, on August 26.
“He said nothing about losses,” Kommersant added.
Lutsk Mayor Igor Polischuk reported on August 28 that Lieutenant Colonel Oleksiy Mes, deputy commander of the operational group from the 114th Tactical Aviation Brigade, was killed while performing a combat mission on August 26.
Before that, the press service of the 144th Fighter Wing of the US National Guard Air Force reported that Oleksiy Mes was undergoing F-16 training in the United States.
On July 31, it became known that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had received the first batch of F-16s.
According to The Economist, ten aircraft were delivered to Ukraine. The Times wrote that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had received six fighters.