One of many F-16 fighter jets despatched from Nato allies to Ukraine has been destroyed, a Ukrainian navy supply has informed the BBC.
The plane went down amid a barrage of Russian missiles on Monday, killing pilot Oleksiy Mes, Ukraine’s navy mentioned. It marks the primary lack of its variety because the planes had been delivered earlier this month.
The reason for the crash was not a direct results of an enemy missile strike, the Ukrainian navy claims.
It mentioned the pilot destroyed three cruise missiles and one drone in Russia’s largest aerial assault up to now.
“Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from lethal Russian missiles,” the Ukrainian Air Power wrote in an announcement on social media.
“Sadly, at the price of his personal life.”
The assertion didn’t specify the kind of airplane concerned, however a navy supply informed the BBC the pilot was flying an F-16.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky formally confirmed on Tuesday the US-made F-16’s had been being deployed to shoot down Russian drones and missiles.
This week, he requested allies to permit Ukraine to make use of lengthy vary missiles to hit targets additional into Russia.
Dutch Chief of Defence Gen Onno Eichelsheim confirmed the Netherlands will present Ukraine with 24 of the jets, along with extra weapons.
There can be no restrictions on their utilization aside from complying with humanitarian regulation, he informed a convention in Washington on Wednesday – which means Kyiv might launch deeper strikes into Russian territory.
Round 65 F-16s have been pledged by Nato nations since US President Joe Biden first authorised prepared European allies to ship them to Ukraine in August 2023.
Ukraine’s F-16s work alongside a restricted variety of Western-supplied surface-to-air missile techniques reminiscent of Patriot and Nasams that are already on the bottom.
Additionally they assist defend towards Russian glide bombs – dumb munitions fitted with pop-out wing kits and steerage modules to ship precision strike stand-off capabilities, much like the JDAM munitions from the USA.
The destruction of the plane is blow to Zelensky, who mentioned he’ll ship a “victory plan” to US President Joe Biden subsequent month.
He additionally revealed Ukraine had not too long ago carried out the primary profitable check of a domestically-produced ballistic missile, however declined to share any extra particulars.
