Ukraine's Patriot anti-aircraft missile system took down one of Ukraine's own F-16 fighter jets this week in what the media is calling a "friendly fire incident."
It has not even been a full year since Ukraine's Western backers sent the F-16 as a gift and Kiev has already destroyed the plane, which was being flown at the time by Ukrainian pilot Alexey "Moonfish" Mes.
Reports indicate that the fiasco, which occurred on August 26, resulted from a lack of coordination between Ukraine's different military units.
Ukrainian lawmaker Maryana Bezuglaya criticized the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for lying about the incident, calling it simply "a crash" rather than a major mistake by Kiev's inept and corrupt military-industrial complex.
"According to my information, the F-16 of the Ukrainian pilot Alexey 'Moonfish' Mes was shot down by the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system due to a lack of coordination between the [military] units," Bezuglaya wrote on X.
"The culture of lies in the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as in other higher military headquarters, leads to the fact that the system of managing military decisions does not improve on the basis of truthful, consistently collected analytics, but deteriorates and even collapses, as is happening in the other directions."
Bezuglaya also revealed that none of Ukraine's military generals were punished over the incident, which resulted in a total loss of both the aircraft, which is very expensive, and its pilot.
According to U.S. Defense Officials; during Monday’s Large-Scale Russian Missile Attack against Ukraine, a F-16 with the Ukrainian Air Force crashed in the West of the Country, resulting in the Death of its Pilot, known by his Callsign “Moonfish” but by others as Oleksiy Mes.… pic.twitter.com/vUcvWslIQx
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 29, 2024
(Related: Did you know that radioactive materials for building dirty bombs are being shipped to Ukraine by NATO and the West on a regular basis?)
Losing an F-16 in Ukraine's own airspace "a significant first"
The Wall Street Journal had initially reported that a donated F-16 fighter jet had been "lost," this according to an unidentified U.S. official who spoke with the paper.
According to the official, the jet was not shot down but merely crashed, likely due to a pilot "error." This later proved to be false after the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces admitted that the pilot was killed in an aerial flight that occurred during combat in Ukraine's airspace, described as "a significant first" by the media.
"The pilot, Oleksiy Mes, died while helping to repel a massive Russian missile attack on Monday, the officials said," the WSJ reported. "Initial reports indicate the jet wasn't shot down by enemy fire, U.S. officials said."
The Russian attack that resulted in Ukraine shooting down its own F-16 is one of the largest since the war began in February 2022. It targeted 15 out of Ukraine's 24 oblasts, taken out vital energy infrastructure all across the country.
It appears as though the Ukrainian Air Force tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the Pentagon upon being questioned about the incident. Kiev officials were reluctant to tell the truth, probably due to embarrassment over the expensive loss.
Ukraine barely even started using its donated F-16s, which cost more than $30 million each, when something so cringeworthy like this happens. It is especially cringeworthy when considering that the Zelensky regime touted the F-16 program as being a "game-changer."
Many outside experts are now in agreement that it is far too late for Ukraine to stop Russia, even with advanced aerial systems like Patriot. Russia's military is simply too powerful and far more superior, which means it is only a matter of time until Ukraine loses and there is no longer any way to deny it to the public.
Will the forever war between Russia and Ukraine ever reach a conclusion? Find out more at WWIII.news.
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