High-ranking Ukrainian military pilot dies after US-made F-16 fighter jet crashes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to servicemen next to a US F-16 fighter jet during a ceremony marking the Day of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Air Force at an undisclosed location in Ukraine earlier this month. A senior Ukrainian fighter pilot has died after a US-made F-16 fighter jet crashed, authorities said. Photo by Presidential Press Service/EPA-EFE

Aug. 29 (UPI) — A high-ranking Ukrainian fighter pilot died Monday after a U.S.-made F-16 fighter jet crashed, authorities said.

Pilot Oleksiy Mes, known by his call sign “Moonfish,” was killed in the crash while “repelling the largest airstrike ever” by Russia on Ukraine, a Ukrainian military source said, adding that Mes was buried Thursday, CNN reported.

Ukrainian authorities said they do not believe pilot error was the cause of the crash. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

“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 Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement on Thursday.

The arrival of the American-made F-16s had been highly anticipated in Ukraine, as the country continues to seek military resources from its allies in its war against the Russian invasion, which has been going on for more than two and a half years. The planes arrived in Ukraine earlier this month, and the deceased pilot was one of the only Ukrainian airmen trained to fly the F-16.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian air force used the F-16 to destroy missiles and drones launched by Russia earlier in the week, the first time an official has confirmed the F-16s were being used in combat.

Reports said the plane piloted by Mes crashed amid a barrage of Russian missiles, but the Ukrainian F-16 destroyed three cruise missiles and a Russian drone in the largest attack on Ukraine to date, a statement said.

“Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles,” the Ukrainian Air Force wrote in a statement on social media. “Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life.”

Mes and another Ukrainian F-16 pilot, Andrii (Juice) Pilshchykov, appeared before Congress in June 2022 to lobby for the planes to be sent to Ukraine.

“When I met Ukrainian pilots Juice and Moonfish, I had the feeling they would not survive the war,” former US Congressman Adam Kinzinger wrote on X. “They fought like crazy for Ukraine and the F16.”

Pilshchykov, aka Juice, died during a mission last August.

The United States and its NATO allies have pledged about 65 F-16s to Ukraine, which has now also asked its allies for permission to use the long-range missiles.