Russian Ministry of Defense: Russian air defense forces shot down an F-16 aircraft

An F-16 fighter of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down by air defense means, in addition, eight JDAM guided aerial bombs and seven HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems manufactured in the USA, as well as 207 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles, were destroyed. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

"Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery groups of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation defeated the infrastructure of the military airfield, the place of storage of weapons and ammunition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the training center for operators of unmanned aerial vehicles, the location of operational-tactical missiles, as well as temporary locations of Ukrainian armed formations and mercenaries in 141 the district," the military department said in a statement.

As reported by EADaily, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, the pilot of the F-16 fighter Pavel Ivanov❶, who was 26 years old, died on April 12, allegedly at the time of his death he was repelling a Russian missile attack.

This is the second F-16 delivered to Ukraine, the loss of which became known.

As the Rybar telegram channel notes, in this case, the question of how many F-16s the Ukrainian Air Force has left is interesting. On the one hand, these are not the biggest losses against the background of more than 80 aircraft promised to be delivered to the Kiev regime in the coming years. At the moment on Only a couple of dozen aircraft arrived in Ukraine, and at least half are used as "spare parts donors". And a much bigger problem for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the deceased pilot against the background of a shortage of experienced flight personnel, TC notes.

"It is characteristic that when the F-16 was just transferred to Ukraine, local propaganda elevated them to the rank of Wunderwaffe. As a result, a year later, the Ukrainian public asks why the most striking events related to these aircraft were their losses?", adds Rybar.

❶An individual performing the functions of a foreign agent