Kyiv: A top Ukrainian pilot was killed after a US-made F-16 fighter jet crashed on Monday, the day when Russia launched a large-scale attack with 200 missiles and drones against his arch-nemesis. The Ukrainian Defence Forces did not believe that pilot error was responsible for the crash, a source told CNN.
The pilot, Oleksiy Mes known as “Moonfish,” was killed in the crash while repelling one of the biggest aerial attacks unleashed by Russia against Ukraine that killed seven people. He was buried on Thursday. The crash is being investigated and international experts will be invited to participate in the probe, the source added.
The crash was the first reported loss of an F-16 in Ukraine, where they arrived at the end of last month. At least six of the warplanes are believed to have been delivered. The Defence Ministry has opened the investigation into the crash.
Major blow for Ukraine
Meanwhile, a US defence official told Reuters that a Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was destroyed in a crash on Monday and it did not appear to be the result of Russian fire. It was still to be determined what caused the incident - pilot error or mechanical failure.
The death of the pilot is being seen as a major blow to Ukraine, which used F-16 jets to repel Russia's Monday attack when it struck Ukraine's energy facilities, triggering power cuts and water supply outages. The air force downed 102 out of 127 incoming missiles and 99 out of 109 drones, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on August 5 that Kyiv had started flying F-16s for operations within the country, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighter jets nearly 2.5 years after Russia's invasion.
Russia's latest attack on Ukraine
In its third attack in four days, Russia conducted a heavy aerial attack on Thursday, firing five missiles and 74 Shahed drones at Ukrainian targets, an air force statement said. Air defences stopped two missiles and 60 drones, and 14 other drones presumably fell before reaching their target, it said. It caused minor damage to civilian infrastructure but no injuries.
The Russian military said on Thursday it had thwarted an overnight attack on Crimea. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces destroyed three Ukrainian sea drones aimed at the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukrainian officials have recently become more vocal in their long-standing insistence that Western countries supporting their war effort should scrap restrictions on what Ukraine is allowed to target inside Russia with long-range weapons they have provided.
(with inputs from agencies)
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