June 29 As Moscow escalates nighttime air attacks in the fourth year of the conflict, officials said on Sunday that a Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot died in a crash while defending against a Russian air onslaught that involved hundreds of drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles.
Maksym Ustymenko, the pilot, was commended by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who also gave him the highest honor in Ukraine, the title of Hero of Ukraine, posthumously.
#ब्रेकिंग: रूस ने अमेरिकी फाइटर जेट F-16 को मार गिराया
— Delip Mandal (@dilip_mandal_IN) October 12, 2024
अमेरिका का दावा था उसका लेटेस्ट F-16 फाइटर जेट को भेदना मुश्किल है, रूस ने अमरीका के दावे को धाराशाही कर दिया यूक्रेन सीमा पर मार गिराया।#UkraineRussianWar #Ukraine #Russian #USA #F16 pic.twitter.com/Z14AXQ8Fvi
Following the strike, which damaged homes and infrastructure throughout the nation and left at least 12 people injured, he also urged Washington and its Western partners to provide Ukraine with additional support to strengthen its air defenses.
As air raid sirens sounded, families in Kyiv gathered in metro stations for protection. Explosions and machine-gun fire were heard throughout the capital and in the less frequented western city of Lviv.
The raid targeted vital infrastructure, according to the governor of the Poland-bordering region of Lviv.
Since it started using the American-built aircraft last year, Ukraine has now lost three F-16s. Although Kyiv has not disclosed the size of its F-16 fleet, these aircraft are now a vital and frequently utilized component of Ukraine's defenses.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the pilot managed to steer the damaged aircraft away from a town, but he was unable to eject it before it crashed.
"The pilot shot down seven air targets with all of his onboard armaments. "His aircraft was damaged and started to lose altitude while shooting down the last one," the Air Force posted on Telegram.
Speaking earlier this month, Ukrainian military analyst Roman Svitan stated that the F-16 is better suited to higher-speed targets and is not the best aircraft for all battle operations, including fending off drones that swarm Ukrainian cities.
"Ustymenko has been flying missions since the time of a campaign that began in 2014 against Russian-financed separatists who had seized parts of eastern Ukraine," Zelenskiy stated in his nightly video message.
"He mastered four types of aircraft and had important results to his name in defending Ukraine," he stated. "It is painful to lose such people."
Russia launched 60 different types of missiles and 477 drones into Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian military. According to the statement, 211 drones and 38 missiles were destroyed by Ukrainian forces, while 225 other drones were either destroyed by electronic warfare or were decoys that were not explosives.
- Numerous cities had at least 12 civilian deaths and scores more injuries.
- Numerous factories, electrical grids, and residential buildings sustained damage.
- Dozens of trauma cases were recorded by hospitals in eastern Ukraine.
- A few electrical and rail lines were momentarily cut off.
Russia has used drones and missiles to conduct its largest aerial assault on Ukraine in months. The Ukrainian pilot of one F-16 fighter jet was killed when it was shot down. Numerous cities were damaged in the strike, and residents were killed or injured. Given that Ukraine is now deploying Western aircraft, the incident signals the start of a new phase in the conflict.
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