F-16 pilot killed during Russia's overnight massive air attack, Air Force says
A lieutenant colonel flying a U.S.-made F-16 fighter jet was killed during the overnight aerial strike while on duty, the Air Force said on June 29.
Russia launched a "massive" missile and drone strike across Ukraine early on June 29, unleashing 537 aerial targets, including 477 drones and 60 missiles, according to the Air Force..
Maksym Ustymenko, born in 1993, was killed after shooting down seven aerial targets, the Air Force said in a statement. The Air Force added that his aircraft was damaged while he was trying to shoot down the last one, losing altitude and crashing.
"Maksym Ustymenko did his best to take the plane away from the settlement, but did not have time to eject," the Air Force said on Telegram, honoring that he died "like a hero."
"The work of Ukrainian pilots is extremely dangerous and risky, both when striking enemy ground targets and repelling air attacks," the Air Force added, saying that the F-16 pilots destroy dozens of Shahed-type drones.
In his evening address, President Volodymyr Zelensky posthumously awarded Ustymenko with the Hero of Ukraine award.
"Today, he was killed defending our skies and our people from yet another massive Russian attack... It is painful to lose people like him," Zelensky said in offering condolence to loved ones.
Russia has intensified its aerial campaign on Kyiv and other cities over the past month. Zelensky said that Russia has launched over 2,700, or roughly 9.5%, of the total number of Shahed-type drones deployed during the entire full-scale war in June alone.
Though well protected with Western air defense systems compared to other cities, Kyiv has also faced a number of deadly attacks in June, with the June 17 missile and drone strike on Kyiv killing 30.
The Air Force said that Ukraine had to use "all available means" to repel the Russian aerial attack overnight on June 29, including elite F-16 jets.
Ukraine received its first batch of F-16 jets in the summer of 2024, but it has not revealed many details about how and where they are used in operations since they are a high-priority target for Moscow. Their pilots have received months of training abroad.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
