(Reuters) -A Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was destroyed in a crash on Monday, a U.S. defense official told Reuters.
According to the official, the crash did not appear to be the result of Russian fire. It was still to be determined what caused the incident – pilot error or mechanical failure.
Russia staged a “massive” missile and drone attack on Ukraine on Monday, Ukraine’s Air Force commander said, which was followed by another major strike on Tuesday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that F-16 jets were used to repel the attack on Monday and showed good results.
Ukraine’s Air Force had no immediate comment.
Zelenskiy announced on Aug. 5 that Ukraine had started flying F-16s for operations within the country, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the U.S.-made fighter jets nearly 2-1/2 years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
(Reporting by Idress Ali in Washington and Anastasia Malenko in Kyiv; writing Yuliia Dysa; editing by Toby Chopra and Rod Nickel)
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