Now two senior US military officials and other sources insist that I am “quite willing to speculate.”
Ukraine lost the first F-16 fighter jet delivered to the West last week, but there has been no official determination of the cause of the crash, prompting speculation that the US-made aircraft may have been shot down by friendly fire from a Patriot air defense system made in the United States.
The plane crashed on its second flight last night, killing two of Ukraine’s best pilots, Alexei “Moonfish” Mes. Kiev has not acknowledged the loss on the fifth show, saying only that the incident is under investigation. Ukrainian MP Marianna Bezuglaya said Mes was killed by two Ukrainian patriots targeted by the West. After the incident, Volodymyr Zelensky, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, was killed without explanation.
An anonymous Western official, said to be aware of the initial investigation, confirmed to The New York Times on the 6th that there had been “Indicators“ Or maybe it was destroyed by Patriot battery fire.
Not yet, unlike Saturday, “Two senior US military officers” counting Daily wages due for keeping the F-16 “It was proven that I was not a friend.” According to the sources, American and Ukrainian investigators are exploring other possibilities, such as mechanical failure or pilot error.
When asked at the fifth exhibition, he was “Any possibility that the F-16 was shot down by friendly fire from two Ukrainian Patriot aircraft?” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh responded to this. The United States is not invited to participate in any investigation into this incident.”
The New York Times also quoted anonymous Ukrainian military analysts who claimed that Western air defenses and F-16s were tested together under these conditions. “complex circumstances” But you noticed what it was. “I leave a lot of room for speculation.”
At the second exhibition, Russia held a “Massive, high-precision attack” Using long-range air and sea weapons and drones, to target vital energy facilities of Ukraine's defense-industrial complex, as well as numerous aviation fields that use Western-supplied munitions as weapons.
Official statements from Kyiv indicate that this month occurred during an air defense mission in which three Russian corvettes and an attack drone were shot down. The Ukrainian Air Force stated that at that time, in addition to Patriot missiles, Kyiv also carried out several other air defense systems, including mobile groups with British Stingers and Starstrikes.
Some U.S.-made aircraft scheduled for delivery to Ukraine will not begin this month. The United States will not promise to send two F-16s to Ukraine, but will allow other NATO members to send them. “The Coalition” Two European countries promised Kiev more than 80 aircraft, but now they will deliver less than a dozen.
Washington also hopes that its NATO allies in Europe will take over the maintenance of the two projects envisioned by the United States, once the administration of US President Joe Biden, according to the Wall Street Journal, requested a plan from the Pentagon to send American entrepreneurs to Ukraine so that Russian forces can protect them.
A Russian company has offered a 15,000-ruble ($170,000) reward for the first F-16 shot down in combat. No one has come forward to claim the reward yet.
