Ukraine says US-made F-16 fighter jet crashed, killing pilot

Ukraine has announced that one of a handful of F-16 fighter jets given by its Western allies to fight Russia’s invasion crashed while repelling a major Russian aerial attack.

The pilot was killed in the incident, which took place on Monday after Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones in one of its biggest bombardments of the war.

It is the first reported destruction of an F-16 in Ukraine, and comes just weeks after Kyiv began taking delivery of the planes.

At least six of the aircraft are believed to have been delivered.

“F-16 fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were used to repel a missile attack on the territory of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, along with units of anti-aircraft missile troops,” the Ukrainian army said.

It added that communication with the F-16 was lost as the planes approached their next target.

“As it turned out later, the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot,” the military said on Thursday.

The statement did not name the pilot, but a unit of Ukraine’s air force said one of its pilots, Oleksiy Mes, had died in a crash on Monday.

“On 26 August, while repelling a Russian massive combined missile and air strike, Oleksiy destroyed three cruise missiles and one attack drone,” Ukraine’s Western air command unit said.

“Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles. Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life,” it added.

Investigation under way

Mes, known by his call sign Moonfish, travelled to the United States as part of Ukraine’s efforts to convince Washington and other NATO allies to send F-16s.

The US approved the plan in 2023 and the first aircraft arrived in Kyiv in late July. Belgium, Denmark the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 F-16s. Russia’s jet fleet, however, is about 10 times bigger.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence opened an investigation into Monday’s crash.

Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s air force, said on Friday that it had shared a preliminary report about the crash and that the US was assisting the investigation.

A US defence official told the Reuters news agency that the crash did not appear to be the result of Russian fire, and possible causes from pilot error to mechanical failure were being investigated.

Russia has continued its aerial bombardment of Ukraine since Monday’s attack.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s air force said air defences stopped two out of five Russian missiles and 60 of the 74 Shahed drones that were fired. It said the 14 other drones are presumed to have fallen before reaching their target.

Authorities in the capital, Kyiv, said the debris of destroyed drones fell in three districts of the city, but there were no injuries.