Russia shoots down Ukraine’s F-16, pilot in ‘largest’ airstrikes; NATO scrambling jets

Pilot Lt-Col Maksym Ustimenko, born in 1993, as per reports, was shooting air targets when he was shot down along with the West-supplied aircraft.

“The pilot used all of his onboard weapons and shot down seven air targets. While shooting down the last one, his aircraft was damaged and began to lose altitude,” the Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app.

NATO has scrambled its warplanes after Russia used 500 missiles to down the F-16. “Due to the attack by the Russian Federation carrying out strikes on objects located in the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aviation has begun operating in our airspace,” the Poland’s operational command said over a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“In accordance with applicable procedures, the Operational Commander of the Polish Armed Forces has activated all available forces and assets at his disposal, duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,” the statement read.

“The measures taken aim to ensure the safety of areas bordering the threatened regions. The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces is monitoring the current situation, and the subordinate forces and assets remain fully ready for immediate response,” the command stated.

Russia, overnight, fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.