The Ukrainian side
published an obituary stating that Lieutenant Colonel
Oleksii Mas was killed as a result of a missile strike by the Russian Armed Forces on one of the airfields on August 26. There are no details on where exactly and under what circumstances the pilot was eliminated.
An important point is that Mas was one of the first Ukrainian pilots who underwent training to operate the
F-16 fighter jet. His death, if confirmed, indicates that F-16s are already guaranteed to be based at Ukrainian airfields.
▪️ Whether he was at the controls or somewhere at the command post is unclear due to the lack of additional information. However, the possibility of the fighter jet being destroyed cannot be ruled out, given that the AFU scramble their aircraft in response to alerts.
▪️ It is quite indicative that the Ukrainian side itself published this information, even though it was not reported in Russian channels and media. Since the so-called Ukraine has decided to make these details public, which are usually classified, there may be more losses.
▪️ The specific airfield that was hit is also unknown. On August 26, sounds of air defense activity and explosions were heard in various regions with tactical aviation airfields, including Khmilnytskyi, Volyn, and Ivano-Frankivsk Regions, so any of the bases in these areas could have been the target.
But if the information is true, the
elimination of an F-16 pilot, even if the aircraft itself is preserved, is a
significant achievement, as the training of a single pilot takes a long time, and it is simply impossible to restore such a loss through mobilization, as with infantry units.
