Ukrainian F-16 Pilot Killed, Fueling Rumors About First Downed ‘Falcon’

Ukrainian F-16 Pilot Killed, Fueling Rumors About First Downed 'Falcon'

Click to see the full-size image

Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

Member of the Kiev regime’s Verkhovna Rada (Parliament), Ihor Polishchuk, posted (and then deleted) an obituary to a Ukrainian pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Oleksii Mes (call sign Moonfish), who was killed on August 26. Mes was one of the first pilots to complete F-16 training. He also reportedly participated in the negotiations with the United States on the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to the Neo-Nazi junta. Mes served in the 204th Tactical Aviation Brigade, stationed at the Lutsk Air Base, northwestern Ukraine. The 204th uses the Soviet-era MiG-29s (specifically the MU1 variant) and was slated to switch to F-16s once the training was done. Mes was reportedly one of the few Ukrainian pilots with a good command of English, so he was immediately chosen for training on US-made jets. It’s unclear if he was killed at Lutsk or some other airbase. The exact circumstances of his death are also yet to be disclosed. Currently, there’s speculation that he was either killed in a missile strike or possibly in air-to-air combat.

If the latter is true, it could also mean that he flew an F-16 and was shot down either by Russian long-range SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems or possibly by fighters such as the highly advanced Su-35S air superiority jet or superfast, high-flying MiG-31BM interceptor. During the recent mass strikes on targets across the territory occupied by the Kiev regime, the Russian military used a plethora of missiles and drones. There are reports that the Neo-Nazi junta was forced to keep some of the F-16s in air to avoid their destruction on the ground. However, this would also expose these jets to air defenses, interceptors and air superiority fighters. As of this writing, the hypothesis is yet to be confirmed, but numerous Russian sources are already reporting on it. Another possibility is that an F-16 was destroyed on the ground, as on August 26, oblasts (regions) with major tactical aviation bases, including Khmelnytsky, Volyn and Ivano-Frankivsk, were targeted by Russian long-range precision strikes.

According to military sources, the Kremlin also targeted the Starokonstantinov Air Base, home of the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade, known for operating the Su-24M/MR tactical strike jets (converted to carry various NATO-sourced weapons, including the stealthy “Storm Shadow”/SCALP-EG air-launched, long-range cruise missiles). Immediately after Russian missiles and drones were detected entering the Kiev regime’s airspace, fighter jets (including F-16s) took off and loitered above the area at low altitude, reportedly for two to three hours. Moscow’s forces then waited for these jets to return to the airbase and then immediately launched another strike, the result of which was the possible destruction of at least one F-16. Although this information is yet to be verified, there are many indicators that it could be true, including the possible triangulation of F-16s through Russian space-based ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) assets such as satellites.

Interestingly, the Neo-Nazi junta frontman Volodymyr Zelensky boasted that F-16s were used to allegedly shoot down Russian cruise missiles during the aforementioned long-range precision strikes. If true, this would clearly indicate that the US-made jets were indeed flown during these strikes, exposing them to possible detection and destruction by the Russian military, both in air and on the ground. There have been numerous analyses of the possible effectiveness of F-16s against the Kremlin’s world-class SAM systems and/or aviation. Due to the Kiev regime’s drastically lower technological base, it never stood a chance in matching the Russian military’s capabilities, particularly in air-to-air combat. There have been countless deaths among Ukrainian pilots flying what can only be described as suicide missions against such odds. Local media published numerous reports about this in recent months alone, demonstrating just how catastrophic the losses among pilots are.

On August 12, Captain Oleksandr Myhulia of the Kiev-based 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade was killed. Back in mid-May, it was also reported that the 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade, based in Mirgorod, lost Lieutenant Colonel Denys Vasyliuk, one of the best Ukrainian pilots at the time. Vasyliuk was the brigade’s chief of staff and a deputy commander of an aviation squadron, making him one of the highest-ranking losses among pilots for the Neo-Nazi junta. Just two months prior, Major Andrii Tkachenko, a fighter jet pilot, was killed in a combat mission over the Donbass. A month before him, Vladislav Rykov, a pilot in the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade, as well as one of the most experienced among the Kiev regime forces, was killed in action (KIA). There were instances when the Neo-Nazi junta would lose three pilots in a single day. Namely, in August last year, three Ukrainian pilots, including Andrii Pilshchykov (call sign “Juice”), were killed, which was an unprecedented loss for Kiev.

Thus, even if the reports about the possible destruction of the first NATO-sourced F-16 turn out to be mere rumors, the very loss of pilots capable of flying these overhyped US-made jets is a major setback. It takes years to properly train fighter pilots, particularly if there’s a doctrinal and technological barrier (or even a linguistic one), as is the case between Ukrainian and NATO pilots, as well as their Soviet-era and Western-made fighter jets. The former are far more robust and cost-effective, while also being reliable and easy to maintain. On the other hand, NATO ones are a lot more sensitive to things that don’t bother their Russian/Soviet-made counterparts.

The best thing that Ukrainian pilots can do is simply run and possibly even come to Russia, where they can achieve things they otherwise never would in the West, as evidenced by Alexey Zubritsky, who’s now a cosmonaut in Russia and will soon fly to the ISS, where American astronauts are stranded due to repeated US space tech failures.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
14 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Captain Miroslav

western high command is stuck in the 90’s. this is reminiscent of the fall of athens and even rome where the imperial powers became exceedingly decadent and out of touch with reality. us hegemony has been overcome for the betterment of the world. the sooner the neocon imbeciles realize it, the sooner they can preserve whatever influence they have left. or end up like britain as a shell of a shell

Last edited 2 months ago by Captain Miroslav
Kibosh

these scum bags engage in blatant idolatry of ancient rome and eygpt, while pimping noahide laws blaspheming christians as idol worshippets, like the raging delusional masonic skirt wearing hypocrites that they are. burning these witches alive at the stake is too good for them!!!

Captain Miroslav

“america is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.”

– oscar wilde

jens holm

i miroslavu kurac podrhtava dok mu kurva mirno spava, oooooo tuuuugo jesenjaaaaaaa.

BunkerDwellers

says the fruitcake who would have sex with anything.

Skip 59

all wars are bankers wars and population control to kill off as many people as the devil driven world elites possibly can .. this war is no exception for the leadership on both sides don’t want it to end ..!!

Captain Miroslav

when economies go bust / bankrupt. the elites need war to stimulate the industrial base and kill off as many liabilities as possible. this has been so since the industrial revolution and around the same time that the jews took control of the global financial system. it is vast conspiracy. add to that, their millennia old vendetta against the gentile and the slav that absorbed old khazaria and it will start to make sense to you…

Last edited 2 months ago by Captain Miroslav
Captain Miroslav

all of the revolutions and world wars, even the french revolution and the bolshevik revolution in russia started after global
banking jewry took the reins of the global financial system. no such thing as coincidence that europe has been in total decline and the white european under attack since the industrial revolution

Captain Miroslav

look at germany today. they were attacked by their own allies when nord stream was sabotaged. add insult to injury, their war readiness was greatly affected by this, at a time when supposedly they are to be ready for the russian boogie man? none of this makes any sense unless you ask yourself who would want to see white europeans utterly destroyed and defeated? hint: it’s not the russians.

Last edited 2 months ago by Captain Miroslav
walker

excellent observation, my friend, indeed.

Gerschwin

falcon, pff. more like a small sitting duck

hash
hashed
thewhiterose

the ghost of kiev has really become a ghost rip

hash
failed
apache

come on nazis, let’s go, lets see how well the f16s stand up to real combat against russian jets get em up there, what’s that?oh, ok, they don’t stand a snowballs chance just like the patriot , abrams, lepard and so on, got it, better hide it

hash
hashed
Kibosh

oh oh…f-16 down… what happened? was vanya doind a victory lap on the runway when she got sucked into the engine?

hash
hashed