Ukrainian F-16 jet, pilot shot down as Russia launches massive aerial attack

A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot was killed after his plane crashed while trying to stop a large Russian air attack, officials said on Sunday. The attack involved hundreds of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, as Russia continues heavy night-time strikes in the fourth year of the war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honoured the pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, by posthumously awarding him the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest honour.

Zelenskyy also urged the United States and other Western allies to provide more help to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences. The latest attack damaged homes and infrastructure across the country and injured at least 12 people, according to local officials.

Cities under fire

In Kyiv, families took shelter in metro stations as air raid sirens sounded. Gunfire and explosions were heard in the capital and in the western city of Lviv, where such attacks are less frequent. The governor of Lviv region, which borders Poland, said critical infrastructure was targeted in the raid.

Ukraine has now lost three F-16 jets since it began flying the American-made aircraft last year. The government has not disclosed the exact number of F-16s in its fleet, but these jets have become an important part of Ukraine’s defence.

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The pilot flew the damaged jet away from a settlement but had no time to eject before it crashed, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

“The pilot used all of his onboard weapons and shot down seven air targets. While shooting down the last one, his aircraft was damaged and began to lose altitude,” the Air Force said on Telegram.

F-16 limitations in drone warfare

Ukrainian military expert Roman Svitan, speaking earlier this month, said the F-16 was not ideally suited to all tasks in the war, particularly repelling drones which swarm Ukrainian cities, as it is better used against higher-speed targets.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Ustymenko had been flying missions since the time of a campaign that began in 2014 against Russian-financed separatists who had seized parts of eastern Ukraine.

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“He mastered four types of aircraft and had important results to his name in defending Ukraine,” he said. “It is painful to lose such people.”

Scale of the Russian assault

The Ukrainian military said in total Russia launched 477 drones and 60 missiles of various types against Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian forces destroyed 211 of the drones and 38 missiles, it said, while 225 more drones were either lost due to electronic warfare or were decoys that carried no explosives.