One of the F-16 warplanes that Ukraine received from its western partners to help fight Russia’s invasion has crashed, killing the pilot, Ukraine’s Army General Staff said on Thursday. The fighter jet went down on Monday during a major Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine, a military statement posted on Facebook said. Four of those Russian missiles were shot down by F-16s, the statement said.
The crash was the first reported loss of an F-16 in Ukraine, after they arrived at the end of last month. At least six of the warplanes are believed to have been delivered. The defence ministry has opened an investigation into the crash. The Ukrainian air force in a Facebook post identified the pilot as Col. Alexei “Moonfish” Mes, who “saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles, unfortunately, at the cost of your own life.”
A US defence official told Reuters that Monday’s crash did not appear to be the result of Russian fire, and possible causes from pilot error to mechanical failure were still being investigated.
The EU’s top diplomat on Thursday ramped up pressure on Ukraine’s international backers to lift restrictions on the use of weapons they provide to allow its armed forces to strike targets inside Russia. “The weaponry that we are providing to Ukraine has to have full use, and the restrictions have to be lifted in order for the Ukrainians to be able to target the places where Russia is bombing them. Otherwise, the weaponry is useless,” Josep Borrell told reporters as the bloc’s foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Thursday he had spent several days on the eastern Pokrovsk front and described fighting there as “exceptionally tough”. Russia has been pressing hard towards the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in recent months, steadily inching forward. “Fights are exceptionally tough. The enemy throws into battle everything that can move and advance, trying to break through our defences,” commander Syrskyi said on Facebook. He said the most intense clashes were taking place in the area of Krasnyi Yar, 10 km (6.2 miles) from the city of Pokrovsk.
Ukraine’s military said on Thursday it had attacked an artillery depot and two oil storage facilities in Russia, causing a fire on Wednesday at the Atlas oil depot in the southern Rostov region. The military said it had also attacked the Zenit oil facility in Russia’s Kirov region, 1,500 km (930 miles) north-east of the border with Ukraine. A field artillery depot in the Russian region of Voronezh was also attacked, it added in the same message on the Telegram app.
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi will travel to Ukraine next week to hold high-level talks and assess developments at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the IAEA said on Thursday. The UN’s nuclear watchdog warned earlier this month that the safety situation at the plant was “deteriorating” after a nearby drone strike.
A military court in Moscow placed Pavel Popov, a former deputy defence minister, in detention on Thursday on suspicion of fraud in the latest of a string of corruption probes of officials tied to ex-defence minister Sergei Shoigu.
The case against Popov, who has served in his role since 2013, is the third investigation into a senior defence official relating to the construction of a military theme park near Moscow. The court ordered Popov detained until 29 October, Russian media said. He denies guilt, his lawyer told the Ria state news agency.
At least one person died and six sustained injuries during Russian shelling of the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka on Thursday, the local governor said. Kostiantynivka, which is miles away from the frontline, is one of the most affected cities in the region, Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin wrote in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. “It comes under enemy fire almost every day,” he said.
One person has been killed and two injured in strikes on Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, the regional governor said Thursday. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that “the town of Shebekino was targeted by Ukrainian forces” and “unfortunately, one person was killed”.
