Ukrainian General Staff confirms loss of F-16 fighter jet and pilot
Source: Ukraine’s General Staff
The Ukrainian military confirmed on Thursday the loss of an F-16 fighter jet and the tragic death of its pilot on August 26.
According to the statement, the F-16 fighter jets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were deployed alongside air defense units to counter a missile strike from Russian forces targeting Ukraine. The F-16 aircraft demonstrated high effectiveness in the air battle, successfully shooting down four enemy cruise missiles.
However, contact was lost with one of the aircraft as it approached a new target. It was later confirmed that the plane had crashed, resulting in the pilot’s death.
The admission came hours after tributes start to pour in for Ukrainian ace Oleksyi Mes who had reportedly been among the first Ukrainian F-16 pilots.
Ukraine’s defense ministry has set up a special commission to investigate the cause of the crash. The commission is currently operating in the area where the aircraft went down.
In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.
Petro Poroshenko’s lawyers have appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding that NABU be obligated to register proceedings regarding the fact of exerting influence on the court and to recognize Petro Poroshenko as a victim in the case of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, due to her pressure on Supreme Court judges who were considering a lawsuit to overturn sanctions.
Internationally recognized brands and financial institutions should direct capital to Ukraine now, not waiting for the hostilities to end. This was emphasized by Rinat Akhmetov, president of FC Shakhtar, during a working visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where he met with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.
In recent days, Moscow’s official rhetoric has been dominated by hysteria over the decision of…
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.