On Wednesday, July 29, 2026, the Ukrainian Air Force Command (Povitriani Syly Zbroinykh Syl Ukrainy, PS ZSU) reported on social media the loss of a Lockheed Martin F-16AM multirole combat aircraft during a combat mission. The pilot successfully ejected.
Photo: PS ZSU
“We hereby inform that contact was lost with a Ukrainian Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft on July 29, 2026. The pilot was conducting a combat mission on one section of the front, intercepting enemy aerial targets. According to preliminary information, an emergency occurred aboard the aircraft, forcing the pilot to eject.
The pilot is now completely safe. He was evacuated and transported to a medical facility for examination and diagnosis. Experts and law-enforcement officers are working at the crash site. No civilian casualties or damage have been reported.
The causes of the incident are being investigated.”
Ukrainian Air Force Command
This is the fifth F-16 donated by European countries to be lost by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the first such loss this year.
- The first aircraft was accidentally shot down in a friendly-fire incident on August 26, 2024, killing Oleksii Serhiiovych Mes, call sign Moonfish.
- The second aircraft crashed on April 12, 2025, killing its 26-year-old pilot, who held the rank of captain.
- The third aircraft was lost on May 16, 2025, while repelling a Russian attack. The pilot successfully ejected.
- The fourth aircraft was damaged on June 29, 2025, during a combat mission to shoot down drones. Its pilot, 32-year-old first-class pilot Lt. Col. Maksym Ustymenko, managed to steer the aircraft away from a village but was unable to eject and was killed.
The Ukrainian Air Force has so far received 50 F-16AM/BM aircraft donated by Denmark, with 12 delivered, the Netherlands, with 24, and Norway, with 14. Kyiv is expected to receive a total of 95 F-16AM/BMs: 19 from Denmark, 24 from the Netherlands, 22 from Norway, and 30 from Belgium, although deliveries from the latter country are expected to be delayed.
It is also worth noting that a Russian Su-35S multirole combat aircraft (NATO reporting name: Flanker-E) was shot down on July 8 this year. As Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine later confirmed, it was downed by a Ukrainian F-16, marking the type’s first confirmed air-to-air victory in Ukrainian service.
Combat-proven capability speaks for itself. The F-16 continues to deliver trusted airpower for global operators. pic.twitter.com/d8HF84CGWs
— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) July 29, 2026
Ukrainian aviation losses
This is another Ukrainian aircraft loss this year.
- On March 9, Col. Oleksandr Dovhach, commander of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade, was killed in the crash of a Su-27 heavy air-superiority fighter.
- On June 16, a Su-24M frontline bomber was lost in the Khmelnytskyi region. Both crew members were killed.
- On June 27, a MiG-29 fighter aircraft was lost in an accident in the Poltava region. The pilot successfully ejected. At approximately the same time, Russia claimed to have destroyed one or two aircraft of this type on the ground.
Eight aircraft were lost last year. In addition to the three F-16s mentioned above, these included two Su-27s – one lost on December 8, killing the pilot, and another on April 27, from which the pilot ejected – as well as one Yak-52, lost overnight on July 18–19 with both crew members killed; one Dassault Mirage 2000-5F, lost on July 22 with the pilot ejecting; and one MiG-29, lost on August 23 with the pilot killed.