A Ukrainian F-16, recently supplied by NATO countries, was destroyed on Monday while defending against a sweeping Russian aerial assault, a Western official said on Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian authorities, but the loss of the plane is a blow to the government in Kyiv, which received its first batch of F-16s this month after arguing to the White House and allies in Europe for years that they were essential to the war effort. While the United States and other allies have provided Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars of military equipment, the fighter jets have taken on outsized importance as a symbol of Western support.
The official said that the jet was involved in Ukraine’s efforts to shoot down more than 200 missiles and drones fired by Russia on Monday in what President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said was one of the largest attacks of its kind since the war began 30 months ago. The F-16s can be used to attack Russian forces, but they are also valuable as defensive weapons, according to military experts.
It was not clear how the jet was destroyed, but the official said the Ukrainians were looking at pilot error or mechanical failure, rather than enemy fire. The official said the pilot was killed in the crash, which was reported Thursday by The Wall Street Journal.
