A US-made F-16 fighter jet, which the country had received a few weeks ago, has crashed in Ukraine.
Its pilot, Oleksiy Meis, was killed. Meis was a highly experienced pilot and one of the first Ukrainians to train on the F-16. He was nicknamed the “Moonfish” and made frequent media appearances during his visits to Washington to lobby the United States to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
Initial reports from the Wall Street Journal, citing a U.S. official, said the plane was not shot down by Russian fire, though it crashed during a massive Russian missile barrage in Ukraine on Monday. The crash appeared to be caused by pilot error.
Ukraine used F-16s in combat for the first time to shoot down Russian missiles during strikes this week, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The news that one of Ukraine’s few F-16s has been destroyed is a major blow to Kiev, which had been begging for the jets for months before President Biden finally gave the green light.
Kyiv hopes the advanced aircraft will give its forces an advantage on the battlefield, particularly to shoot down incoming Russian missiles and help protect troops on the front lines. F-16s are vulnerable to Russian air defense missiles and are a high-value target for Moscow’s forces.
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