Ukraine reports first destruction of US-delivered F-16 fighter jet amid war with Russia; pilot killed

Oleksiy Mes, Pilot of F-16 fighter jet who died in the crash

Ukraine on August 29 reported that one of its U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets crashed while defending against a Russian air strike, resulting in the death of the pilot.

This incident marks the first confirmed loss of an F-16 in Ukraine, just weeks after Kyiv began receiving these supersonic aircraft.

According to the Ukrainian army, the F-16s were deployed alongside anti-aircraft missile units to repel a missile attack from the Russian Federation. Communication was lost with one of the jets during the mission, and it was later confirmed that the aircraft had crashed, killing the pilot onboard.

Although the army did not initially identify the pilot, Ukraine's air force later confirmed that the pilot, Oleksiy Mes, died in the crash on Monday(August 26) while repelling a Russian air attack.

Ukraine’s Western air command unit praised Mes for destroying three cruise missiles and one attack drone during the mission, acknowledging his sacrifice in saving Ukrainians from the Russian strike.

This development is a significant setback for Ukraine, which had been heavily reliant on an aging fleet of Soviet-era MIG-29 and Sukhoi jets and had sought the advanced F-16s to bolster its defense against Russia's ongoing aerial bombardment.

The attack was part of a broader wave of missile and drone strikes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as one of the largest assaults in the two-and-a-half-year conflict.

(With agency input)