The Ukrainian Air Force lost its first F-16 fighter during a combat sortie on 26 August 2024, although the specific circumstances of the loss remain unconfirmed.
The aircraft’s loss also led to the death of its pilot, Colonel Oleksiy Mes (callsign ‘Moonfish’), who was previously highly experienced with MiG-29 fighters and was one of the first Ukrainian pilots to be trained on the F-16.
According to a statement by Ukraine’s air force command, Col Mes had “destroyed three cruise missiles and one kamikaze drone while repelling a massive Russian combined air and missile attack” before being shot down. Engaging such targets could well have put him in danger of being shot down by Ukraine’s own air defences.
Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezuhla, who is deputy head of the Ukrainian parliament’s defence committee, cited unnamed sources to claim the F-16 had been downed in a ‘friendly fire’ incident by a US-sourced Patriot air defence missile.
That assertion was initially dismissed by the Ukrainian Air Force commander, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, but on 30 August Lt Gen Oleshchuk was fired from his command by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who only stated that it was necessary at the command level that “We must strengthen. And protect people. Protect personnel. Take care of all our soldiers.”
Lieutenant General Anatoliy Kryvonozhka was named as the acting Ukrainian Air Force commander.
The first of around 90 F-16s pledged by Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium entered the Ukrainian Air Force inventory during a ceremony presided over by President Zelenskyy on 4 August.
