By Athena Papakosta

The first of the few F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine received from its Western allies has crashed.

According to the Ukrainian armed forces, the aircraft was not shot down by enemy fire, despite the fact that the incident occurred during the massive missile attack launched by Russia on Monday against Ukrainian territory. Pilot Oleksii Mes is dead.

Three 24 hours ago, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that American-made F-16s are being developed to shoot down Russian drones and missiles.

According to the Ukrainian armed forces, the F-16 fighter jet that crashed had first destroyed three cruise missiles and a drone.

Yesterday the Netherlands confirmed that it will deliver 24 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. The commander of the Dutch armed forces, Ono Eichelsheim, announced that there would be no restrictions on their use provided that the law of war was respected.

A year ago, the United States approved the transfer of more than 60 F-16 fighter jets from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway to Ukraine, and a few weeks ago their delivery began to strengthen the country’s defense against in Russia. Ukrainian officials insist they need 130, at a time when Russia’s aircraft fleet is currently 10 times larger.

Military analysts had already stressed that the delivery of the F-16 fighters would not change the war, but the Ukrainians had welcomed the opportunity to respond to Russian air superiority.

The crash of the F-16 is a blow to Zelensky, who has been asking his Western allies to give the green light to the use of long-range weapons so that the Ukrainian armed forces can launch strikes deeper into Russian territory, and is expected in September to present his plan to end the war on Joe Biden and his potential successors, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.