Ukraine says one of its West-donated F-16 fighter jets has crashed, killing pilot
Crash happened on Monday as Ukraine came under the biggest Russian drone and missile assault since the start of the war
One of the handful of F-16 warplanes that Ukraine has received from its Western partners to help fight Russia’s invasion has crashed, Ukraine’s Army General Staff said. The pilot died.
The fighter jet went down on Monday, when Russia launched a major missile and drone barrage at Ukraine, a military statement posted on Facebook said. Four of those Russian missiles were shot down by F-16s, the statement said on Thursday.
The crash was the first reported loss of an F-16 in Ukraine, where they arrived at the end of last month. At least six of the warplanes are believed to have been delivered.
The Defence Ministry has opened an investigation into the crash.
The Ukrainian air force in a Facebook post identified the pilot as Colonel Alexei “Moonfish” Mes, who “saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles, unfortunately, at the cost of your own life”.
Moonfish and a fellow Ukrainian pilot, Andrii “Juice” Pilshchykov, made an early, public visit to the US in June 2022 to press lawmakers and media to send Ukraine F-16 fighter jets and they both continued to serve as public faces for Ukraine’s battle to secure its airspace. Juice was killed in an August 2023 accident.