Ukraine reported the loss of one of the first F-16 fighters delivered by the West on August 26, during a massive Russian air strike.
The lost aircraft was reportedly one of the first F-16s already delivered to Ukraine, which was deployed at a rear base. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Tuesday, 27 August that Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets were used to repel Monday’s attack and achieved good results.
In parallel, but not officially related, the Ukrainian government published an obituary and held a memorial service for Oleksiy Mes, a Ukrainian Air Force pilot who died on August 26 while helping to repel the same Russian attack that would have destroyed the F-16. According to the institution, Oleksiy managed to destroy three cruise missiles and a UAV before losing radio contact with the base.
Oleksii Mes’, a pilot of the Ukrainian Air Force, heroically fought his last battle in the skies.
On August 26, during a massive russian missile and air strike, Oleksii shot down three cruise missiles and one strike UAV. He saved countless Ukrainians from deadly russian… pic.twitter.com/Wwc0BiUThO
— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) August 29, 2024
The Russian attack on Monday night was one of the most massive to date. Ukrainian defense forces counted the use of three Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles; six Iskander-M and/or KN-23 ballistic missiles; 77 Kh-101 cruise missiles launched by Tu-95MS bombers; 28 Kalibr cruise missiles launched from Black Sea Fleet ships; three Kh-22 supersonic missiles deployed by Tu-22M3 bombers, 10 Kh-59/Kh-69 tactical missiles fired by Su-57 and Su-34 aircraft; and 109 Shahed-131/136-type kamikaze drones.
Kiev claimed that the target of the Russian munitions was Ukrainian critical infrastructure, in particular against the fuel and energy sector.
On the other hand, Russian sources claim that military intelligence was able to identify that the base from which the Ukrainian F-16s were operating was the Ivano-Frankivsk military airfield in western Ukraine, thanks to a video released by the Ukrainian Air Force itself, which is here below
During the farewell ceremony for Juice, the Commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, promised Andrii Pilshchykov’s mother, Liliia Oleksandrivna, that she would at least have the chance to sit in the cockpit of an F-16 — the aircraft her son dreamed of… pic.twitter.com/LmesgWv8t8
— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) August 25, 2024
The footage of the tribute to the Ukrainian pilot, nicknamed “Juice”, would have provided valuable context to determine where the F-16s were stationed, and hours after the video was uploaded to social media, the base was targeted by the Russian attack.
⚡🇺🇦 In a new video dedicated to F-16 jets, the Ukrainian accidentally revealed the location of the aircraft.
As expected, the fighters are stationed at the Kolomyia military airfield in the Ivano-Frankovsk region. #ukraina #ukraine #russia #belarus #iran #israel #kursk pic.twitter.com/0BaeoRvS55
— OsintWorld 🍁 (@OsiOsint1) August 25, 2024
Without concrete evidence, hypotheses are all we have
In principle, we know that Ukraine lost an F-16 and that Oleksiy Mes, one of the first pilots trained to fly it, died during the night of the Russian air attack, in combat actions. It is very difficult to think that these facts are not related, so we can assume that Oleksiy was at the controls of the destroyed F-16.
Based on that assumption, three hypotheses (for now) unfold:
- Being warned of the imminent attack, an attempt was made to save the F-16s by getting them in the air as quickly as possible, but the Russian missiles or drones arrived first, perhaps hitting the aircraft during its taxi to the runway or during takeoff.
- The Ukrainian pilot was able to take off in time to participate in the defensive actions, managing to shoot down 3 targets before crashing for currently unknown causes, which may include mechanical failure, spatial disorientation, or some other type of human error (theory ascribed to by US media).
- The aircraft was shot down by the Ukrainian air defense itself in a sad “friendly fire” accident.
There is no further official information from the Ukrainian Government, nor has the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation issued any statement or presented any evidence about this remarkable event. But what is already public knowledge is that Ukraine lost a valuable fighter aircraft, and an even more valuable pilot trained to fly it.
