One of the F-16 jets donated to Ukraine by NATO has reportedly been downed while attempting to launch missiles at Russia’s Zaporozhye Region.
Preliminary information from the front line was reported on Thursday by Vladimir Rogov, the co-chair of Russia’s Coordinating Council for the Integration of New Regions.
“The F-16 aircraft was in position to launch a missile strike on the region, and it was shot down,” Rogov wrote on Telegram.
Several European NATO members delivered a “small number” of the US-made fighters to Ukraine in July. Advertised by Kiev as a game-changer in challenging Russian air superiority, the planes ended up never being used in air-to-air combat.
A number of F-16s were reportedly used to defend against incoming Russian missiles in August, but one of the jets was lost. A Ukrainian lawmaker later revealed that it had been shot down by a Patriot air defense battery, which was also donated by NATO.
Private Russian company Fores has offered a reward of 15 million rubles ($170,000) to whoever shoots down the first Ukrainian F-16.
Zaporozhye is one of the four former regions of Ukraine that joined Russia after a referendum in September 2022. Around 70% of the region is under Russian control and was the target of Kiev’s 2023 “summer counteroffensive.”