Ukrainian pilot killed in F-16 crash – POLITICO

“He fought his last battle in the skies heroically. Oleksiy destroyed three cruise missiles and a kamikaze drone and repelled a massive combined Russian air and missile attack. Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles. Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life,” the Air Force Command said.

Russia fired more than 127 missiles and 100 drones at Ukraine on Monday, primarily targeting critical energy infrastructure, including a dam in the Kyiv region.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the loss of the F-16s, citing an anonymous US official. The first fighter jets arrived in Ukraine only this month after years of pressure from Kyiv on its allies.

Mes was one of the most vocal pilots demanding that Ukraine receive F-16 aircraft. Along with another pilot, Andriy “Juice” Pilshchykov, who died in a crash in August 2023, Mes traveled to the United States to lobby for better jets to protect Ukraine.

“Oleksiy was an exemplary pilot. Always an excellent student, always the first, always the best,” wrote Tetiana Shevchuk, a friend of both pilots, on Facebook. “He was the first Ukrainian pilot to sit behind the controls of an F-16 and the first to fly combat missions.”