Ukrainian F-16 jet destroyed in crash

Ukraine said Thursday that one of its recently delivered F-16 fighter jets made by the United States crashed while repelling a Russian air strike, killing the pilot onboard.

“During the approach to the next target, communication with one of the planes was lost. As it turned out later, the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot,” the Ukrainian army said.

According to a US defense official, the crash did not appear to be the result of Russian fire. It was still to be determined what caused the incident - pilot error or mechanical failure. Russia staged a “massive” missile and drone attack on Ukraine on Monday, Ukraine’s Air Force commander said, which was followed by another major strike on Tuesday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that F-16 jets were used to repel the attack on Monday and showed good results.

Zelenskyy announced on Aug. 5 that Ukraine had started flying F-16s for operations within the country, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighter jets nearly 2-1/2 years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.