[Regnum] Russian air defense forces shot down an F-16 fighter jet of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) over Sumy Oblast. This was reported on March 19 by the SHOT Telegram channel.
"The Ukrainian F-16 fighter was shot down by the Belgorod Region air defense forces. The Ukrainian pilot died in the plane crash," the statement said.
Other sources say that a Russian SU-35 painted the target for the S-400 missile crew.
It is specified that the plane was destroyed by a missile from the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, on January 7, the head of the communications department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Yuriy Ignat, stated that the F-16 cannot compete with Russian combat aircraft, since the latter are superior to Western models in terms of technology. According to him, in order to counter, for example, the Su-35 one-on-one in an air battle, a comprehensive approach is needed, including the use of ground-based air defense systems and electronic warfare systems.
Major General, Russian military pilot, member of the expert council of the organization "Officers of Russia" Vladimir Popov in an interview with the Regnum news agency on December 8 said that the batch of F-16s transferred to the Kiev regime will most likely be lost in proportion to how it happened before, that is, even without a direct clash with the Russian Aerospace Forces. According to him, this trend is due to the low level of training of Ukrainian pilots.
On February 15, Verkhovna Rada deputy Maryana Bezugla stated that in August 2024, the Ukrainian Air Force command tried to hide information about the downing of the F-16 as a result of its own mistake. She specified that the air defense system hit the fighter during a massive strike by the Russian Armed Forces. According to her, this is at least the third time that Ukrainian air defense systems have shot down their own aircraft by mistake. Foreign sources also tried to hide what happened, she added.
The Washington Post wrote that the crash of the F-16 and the loss of its pilot, Alexei Mes, was a serious blow to Kiev. The article said that the deceased was one of six Ukrainian pilots who were trained to fly fighters of this model.