The US Department of Defense is unaware of a request from Ukraine to help investigate the crash of an F-16 aircraft in Ukraine. This was stated by Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh at a briefing on August 29, UNN reports with reference to the US Department of Defense.
"I have seen the reports, but I am not aware of any assistance or request for assistance from the Ukrainian side regarding this particular incident," Singh said.
When asked about the incident of the F-16 plane crash and the death of the Ukrainian pilot , Singh replied:
"I can't provide any more information. This is something that Ukraine should be talking about. As you know, we train pilots here in the United States. I will say that combat aviation in general is incredibly complex. And we are very proud to train some pilots here in the United States, and not only here, but our partners and allies also train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s. And every day when they fly these aircraft, these brave men and women go out there to defend their skies and their country."
The Pentagon spokeswoman also refused to say how many F-16s are in Ukraine.
"This is something they (Ukrainians - ed.) should talk about themselves. It also opens up a lot of operational security issues. So I just can't talk about it," Singh said.
Ukrainian pilot Lieutenant Colonel Oleksiy Mes was killed when his F-16 fighter jet crashed on Monday, August 26. The Ukrainian Air Command "West" reported that the pilot was killed while repelling a Russian massive combined missile and air strike and destroyed three cruise missiles and one attack UAV.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff officially confirmed the loss of an F-16 fighter jet and the death of the pilot while repelling a Russian missile attack.
The General Staff added that a special commission of the Ministry of Defense has been appointed to investigate the causes of the crash and is working in the area of the plane's crash.
Deputy Head of the Rada Defense Committee, MP Mariana Bezuhla, believes that the F-16 of Ukrainian pilot Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes was probably shot down by a Patriot anti-aircraft missile system due to discoordination between units.