Ukraine Russia war latest: Top Kyiv pilot killed after F-16 crashes during mass airstrike by Putin’s forces

Ukraine has lost a Western-donated F-16 fighter jet for the first time, after one of the aircraft crashed during operations to intercept a massive Russian missile and drone attack .

The crash killed one of Ukraine’s most experienced pilots, Colonel Alexei “Moonfish” Mes, who had been one of the faces of a campaign to encourage Western allies to supply Kyiv the jets.

The crash occurred on Monday during a massive Russian air attack, during which four Russian missiles were shot down by F-16s.

Mes had traveled to the US in 2022 to lobby for F-16 support and met with senior American members of Congress.

Earlier, the UK , the European Union and Ukraine ramped up calls for Kyiv to be allowed to strike deeper into mainland Russia, saying that restricting anything short of full capability renders their long-range missiles “useless”.

Elsewhere, Sweden’s foreign minister told the Financial Times that Kyiv’s incursion in Kursk has proved “devastating” for Putin.

“The fact that this was possible in the first place is so much more important than the actual territory on the ground,” said Tobias Billström.