Ukraine loses an F-16 fighter jet – pilot is dead

The first Western fighter jets have only recently begun to serve in Ukraine; An accident occurs during one of the first trips.

A new Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet crashed while repelling a heavy Russian airstrike on Monday, according to the military. The pilot was killed, said the Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev. So confirmed US media reports. The US-made aircraft, which was delivered recently, was very valuable in the operation and shot down four Russian guided missiles, it was said. As the aircraft continued to the next destination, contact with an aircraft was lost. “It crashed and the pilot was killed.”

The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed that the dead pilot was Oleksiy Mes, call sign Moonfish, who was one of the first Ukrainians to be trained on the F-16. He was buried today. After months of waiting in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj presented the first machines at the beginning of August. According to US information cited in the Wall Street Journal, there were six former Dutch fighter jets.