A Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed in combat, Kyiv said Saturday, in the second such incident since the delivery of the precious US-made fighter jets to Ukraine to help fight Russia鈥檚 invasion.
鈥極n 12 April 2025, 26-year-old Pavlo Ivanov died while flying an F-16 combat mission,鈥� the Ukrainian army said in a statement. 鈥楬e was killed in action, defending his homeland from the invaders.鈥�
The army did not give more details on the circumstances of how he died and said that a commission was working to establish 鈥榓ll the circumstances of the tragedy.鈥�
鈥楿krainian pilots work to the maximum of their human and technical capabilities, risking their lives every time they perform combat missions. Pavlo was one of them!,鈥� the army said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ivanov was killed in action and expressed condolences to his family. 鈥榃e are investigating all the circumstances,鈥� he said on social media.
Kyiv received the first deliveries of F-16s in summer last year, after spending two years pushing for them.
In August 2024, Kyiv said that an F-16 had crashed while repelling a Russian missile attack, killing its pilot.
That was until now the only loss of an F-16 announced by Kyiv.
Last month, Zelensky announced the delivery of a fresh of batch of the jets, without giving an exact number.