Ukraine confirmed on Thursday afternoon that one of its F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters crashed earlier this week, killing the pilot onboard. It was reportedly one of the initial six aircraft that arrived in Ukraine earlier this month.

Officials confirmed that the crash occurred on Monday, but there is no indication it was shot down by Russian aircraft or air-defense systems. Pilot error or mechanical failure are being investigated as the possible causes that led to the crash.

"F-16 fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were used to repel a missile attack on the territory of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, along with units of anti-aircraft missile troops," the Ukrainian army said.

"During the approach to the next target, communication with one of the planes was lost. As it turned out later, the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot," the Ukrainian military added.

Though Kyiv did not identify the pilot, the Ukrainian Air Force did name the pilot as Oleksiy Mes.

"On 26 August, while repelling a Russian massive combined missile and air strike, Oleksiy destroyed three cruise missiles and one attack drone," Ukraine's Western air command unit told the media, including CBS News. "Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles. Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life."

On Monday, the Kremlin launched more than 200 missiles and drones at Ukraine, targeting the country's energy sector. The F-16 was reported to have played a vital role in stopping the attacks.

Mes was among the first Ukrainians to be trained on the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and his loss may be even more significant than the fighters. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Kyiv lacks not only enough F-16s to make a significant difference in the ongoing fighting, but it lacks the pilots to fly the Western-supplied aircraft.

NATO's F-16s Fighting Russia

NATO members Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway pledged to send approximately 79 of the U.S.-made fighters. Each of those alliance nations has been upgrading their respective air forces and has adopted the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Though older variants of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the donated aircraft are being upgraded with modern electronic warfare systems (EWS).

This week, the 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron announced that it had "collaborated with" its "Danish and Norwegian counterparts" by enabling electronic warfare (EW) capabilities in the F-16s donated by multiple NATO members to Kyiv.

"The 68th EWS is an Air Force center of Electronic Warfare excellence, focused on increasing the lethality and survivability of the U.S. and its strategic partners by developing, testing and delivering full-spectrum Electromagnetic Warfare support," the Wing explained in a statement. "Both Ukraine and Russia's militaries heavily rely on unfettered access to the electromagnetic spectrum to achieve commander objectives and both sides have continuously engaged in EW through techniques such as jamming and spoofing throughout the war to achieve spectrum superiority."

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Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].

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