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Aug 28, 2024 7 tweets 4 min read Read on X
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.


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Oleksiy Mes in the cockpit of F-15D during visit in the 144th Fighter Wing (144 FW) of the California Air National Guard.
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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…
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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…

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@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.

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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. Image
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. Image

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More from @MarcinRogowsk14

Mar 12
A thread about two Ukrainian Mi-8s shot down on 5 April 2022. The 1st one was returning with wounded from Azovstal when it was downed several km before reaching friendly territory. Major Horoshko and starshyy leytenant Sindiy were KIA, kapitan Chichura is still missing. Representative photo: Mi-8MT of the Ukrainian Army Aviation.
There were between 9 and 15 wounded soldiers on board, at least 2 were KIA. The 2nd Mi-8 attempted to rescue the survivors but was also shot down while approaching to land near the crash site of the 1st Mi-8.
The crew of the 2nd Mi-8: polkovnyk Voronyi KIA, kapitan Burlakov POW and the navigator Pylypenko MIA. Four person rescue/fire team from the GUR MO was also on board: kapitan Borovytskyi, serzhant Klepikov and molodshyi serzhant Gavrylenko, all KIA, Dobrovolsky MIA.
Read 13 tweets
Mar 2
Very interesting and moving documentary about 🇺🇦Ukrainian Su-25 pilots.
First image of the Su-25 (possibly M1), 11 blue. This aircraft was overhauled and repainted with pixel camo after the outbreak of the full-scale war. Image
Polkovnyk Rostislav Lazarenko in front of previously undocumented wreck of the Su-25M1, 21 blue. The aircraft was last seen flying around May 2023. Image
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Read 5 tweets
Oct 10, 2024
Every now and then, when I look through sat photos, I come across aircraft decoys painted at air bases. I will be posting them in this thread.

Not a decoy, but I would like to start with "Russian warplane go fuck yourself" from Vasylkiv Air Base. Satellite imagery taken 31 March 2022.
Satellite imagery taken 31 March 2022.
Su-34 decoy at Khanskaya Air Base.

Coordinates: 44.674199, 40.022472 MAXAR sat imagery taken on 26 February 2024.
Flanker decoy at Khanskaya Air Base.

Coordinates: 44.679216, 40.029634 MAXAR sat imagery taken on 26 February 2024.
Read 6 tweets
Sep 11, 2024
On 10 September 2024, the Russian Armed Forces carried out an attack on Uman Air Base, Cherkasy Oblast.
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Before the full-scale war, the base was used for training purposes by the Kharkiv National Air Force University. In this sat imagery taken on 2 September 2017 you can see L-39 trainers parked on the apron.
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After the start of the full-scale war, the base began to be expanded to prepare it for an increased military presence. Between July and August 2022, additional parking spots (most likely with revetments) were built in the NW end of the apron. Coordinates: 48.790900, 30.208376


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Read 5 tweets
Aug 22, 2024
On 22 August 2024, a Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out a massive OWA UAV strike on the Marinovka Air Base, Volgograd Oblast, Russia. This should be a reasonably short thread.

Image from the account of @Dmojavensis
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Let's start with the obvious losses. A Sukhoi Su-34 was completely destroyed here 48.638819, 43.777684.

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This one is a little less obvious. In the sat photo from 25 April 2024 a Su-24M or MR is parked here 48.638739, 43.778199. On 19 August it seems to be still there (@MT_Anderson can you please post a zoom in). On 22 Aug there is a burn mark and debris, I think it was destroyed.

Sat imagery taken on 25 April 2024 (via Google Earth).
Planet Labs sat imagery taken on 19 August 2024 (via @MT_Anderson).
Airbus DS sat imagery taken on 22 August 2024 (via @MT_Anderson).
Read 19 tweets
Aug 4, 2024
The first F-16AM fighters in Ukraine.





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Interestingly, both airframes shown on the ground during the ceremony have IFF "bird slicer" antennas of the older type used on F-16As with ADF modification. My bet is that these two airframes are not airworthy and were obtained from the US to be used as decoys. Image
Another photo of ex-Royal Danish Air Force F-16AM in the Ukrainian service, Image
Read 6 tweets

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