A F-16 fighter jet of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), whose pilot was on a combat mission to intercept Russian aerial targets, crashed on Wednesday, July 29. "According to preliminary data, there was an emergency situation on board the aircraft, and the pilot was forced to eject," the AFU reported. The F-16 pilot was successfully evacuated and taken to a medical facility for examination and diagnosis. No destruction or casualties among the civilian population were reported, the Ukrainian military stated. Experts and law enforcement are working at the crash site. The causes of the incident are being investigated. ## ## Fourth F-16 Lost by the AFU Ukraine received the first 10 multifunctional American-made F-16 fighter jets in early August 2024 from a coalition of European countries led by Denmark and the Netherlands. At that time, it was reported that by the end of 2024, Kyiv would receive another 20 such aircraft, and by 2025, their total number in the inventory of the Air Force of the AFU would reach 79 units. Ukrainian pilots were trained to operate the F-16 in the United States. On August 29, 2024, Ukraine reported the loss of its first F-16 while repelling a massive missile strike from the Russian Federation. Its pilot, Oleksiy Mesy, was killed. On April 12, 2025, it became known that a second F-16 of the AFU crashed while performing a combat mission. The deceased pilot, Pavlo Ivanov, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine by President Volodymyr Zelensky, just like Oleksiy Mesy. On May 16, 2025, another F-16 was lost while repelling an attack by Russian drones. The dpa agency notes that these Western fighter jets are an important part of Ukraine's air defense system amid the ongoing aggression from the Russian Federation, and the loss of each F-16 is a significant loss for the AFU.