Ukrainian F-16 pilot killed repelling massive Russian air attack
Photo: Reuters
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot was killed while repelling a Russian attack that involved hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, authorities said on Sunday, as Moscow intensifies night time air barrages in the fourth year of war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more support from the West to bolster Ukraine's air defences after the attack, which damaged homes and infrastructure and injured at least seven people, according to local authorities.
Ukraine lost its third F-16 fighter jet since the start of the war while repelling the attack, the military said.
Kyiv has not revealed how many of the jets it operates, but they have become a central and heavily used part of Ukraine's air defences.
"Moscow will not stop as long as it has the capability to launch massive strikes. Just this week alone, there have been more than 114 missiles, over 1,270 drones, and nearly 1,100 glide bombs," Zelenskiy said on X platform.
Almost all night long, air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine — 477 drones were in our skies, most of them Russian-Iranian Shaheds, along with 60 missiles of various types. The Russians were targeting everything that sustains life. A residential building in Smila was also hit,… pic.twitter.com/1ExZhYAMBg
The Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 477 drones and 60 missiles of various types to Ukraine overnight while Ukrainian forces destroyed 211 drones and 38 missiles.
"To repel the massive attack, all available means of the defence forces that can operate on enemy air assets were deployed," the military said.
Russia has launched similar large scale attacks on Ukrainian cities every few days in recent weeks, causing widespread damage and killing dozens of civilians.
After the latest overnight attacks, sounds of explosions were heard in Lviv, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, regional governors said.
The Ukrainian military said air strikes were recorded in six locations.
Six people, including one child, were injured in the central Cherkasy region, the governor Ihor Taburets said on the Telegram messenger. Three multi-storey buildings and a college were damaged in the attack, he said.
One woman was injured in western Ivano-Frankivsk region.
Wall Street extended its rally on Friday, sending the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to all-time closing highs - with each adding half a percent - while the Dow climbed one percent.
Industrial facilities were hit in the southern Ukrainian Mykolaiv and central Dnipropetrovsk regions, officials say.
Local authorities published photos of multi-storey houses with charred walls and broken windows and rescuers evacuating residents.
Political will
Ukraine says recent attacks highlight its need for further support from Washington for air defences. Zelenskyy asked US President Donald Trump to sell Ukraine more Patriot missile batteries when they met in The Hague on Wednesday.
"This war must be brought to an end - pressure on the aggressor is needed, and so is protection. Protection from ballistic and other missiles, from drones, and from terror. Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defense - the thing that best protects lives," Zelenskyy added in his X post on Sunday after the attack.
He said Ukraine was ready to buy the American air defence systems and it counts on "leadership, political will, and the support of the United States, Europe, and all our partners."
The pilot of the Ukrainian F-16 jet did everything he could and flew the jet away from a settlement but did not have time to eject, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
"The pilot used all of his onboard weapons and shot down seven air targets. While shooting down the last one, his aircraft was damaged and began to lose altitude," the Air Force said on the Telegram messenger.
The Ukrainian military said 225 drones were lost in the overnight attacks - in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them - or they were drone simulators that did not carry warheads.
The governor of the Lviv region in the west of the country said the attack targeted critical infrastructure. However, he did not report on the aftermath.