Ihor Polishchuk, the mayor of Lutsk, informed today that on 26 August 2024, pidpolkovnyk Oleksiy Mes died while performing a combat mission. He was a MiG-29 pilot from the 204 Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force.
Ihor Polishchuk already removed the information about the death of pidpolkovnyk Mes, but it is still visible in the edit history. The Volyn News portal also deleted a previously published article about the death of pidpolkovnyk Oleksiy Mes. facebook.com/ihor.polishchu…
There are some rumors that pidpolkovnyk Oleksiy Mes was a trained F-16 pilot. I don't know if this is true or just false assumption based on the fact that Mes once flew as an observer in F-15D while visiting 144th Fighter Wing of the California ANG. sprotyv.info/photo/ukrainsk…
@Rebel44CZ Apparently another Ukrainian Air Force fighter jet was lost, most likely a MiG-29.
Unfortunately pidpolkovnyk Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes was a F-16 pilot. He was among the first group of Ukrainian pilots trained in Denmark.
The fact that Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes was among the first pilots trained on the F-16 doesn't necessarily mean that he died in an F-16. The standard phrasing "died during combat mission" can refer to anything, he might as well have died in a missile attack on one of the air bases.
Regardless of how he died, it is a great loss as pidpolkovnyk Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes was one of the few Ukrainian F-16 pilots currently available.
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