One of the F-16 fighter jets sent from Nato allies to Ukraine has crashed on Monday.
The aircraft went down amid a barrage of Russian missiles on Monday, killing pilot Oleksiy Mes, Ukraine’s military said. It marks the first loss of its kind since the planes were delivered earlier this month.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s army said later on Thursday that several F-16 jets were deployed alongside anti-aircraft missile units to fight the Russian attack.
During the approach to the next target, communication with one of the aircraft was lost. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, the pilot died.
The General Staff said in the update
The Ukrainian military said the pilot destroyed three cruise missiles and one drone in Russia’s largest aerial attack to date.
The cause of the crash was not a direct result of an enemy missile strike.
UPDATE The F-16 was unfortunately shot down by the Patriot system (friendly fire) following a loss of communication and a lack of coordination between the units of the Ukrainian Air Force
Mariana Bezuglaya, deputy head of the Ukraine parliament’s defense committee, claimed that an F-16 crashed after being hit by a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system during Russia’s attack on August 26.
Mariana Bezuhla cited unnamed sources for her claim and demanded punishment for those responsible for the error.
