“He heroically fought his last battle in the sky. Oleksiy destroyed three cruise missiles and one kamikaze drone, while repelling a massive Russian combined air and missile attack. Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles. Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life,” the air force command said.
Russia fired more than 127 missiles and 100 drones at Ukraine on Monday, targeting mostly critical energy infrastructure, including a dam in the Kyiv region.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the loss of the F-16, citing an anonymous U.S. official. The first fighters only arrived in Ukraine this month after years of pressure from Kyiv on its allies.
Mes was one of the most vocal pilots calling for Ukraine to be given F-16s. Together with another pilot, Andriy “Juice” Pilshchykov, who was killed in a crash in August 2023, Mes traveled to the U.S. to lobby for better jets to protect Ukraine.
“Oleksiy was an exemplary pilot. Always an excellent student, always the first, always the best,” Tetiana Shevchuk, a friend of both pilots, wrote on Facebook. “He was the first Ukrainian pilot to sit at the controls of an F-16 and the first to fly combat missions.”
