A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot was killed during a large-scale overnight Russian air assault, prompting renewed calls from President Volodymyr Zelensky for increased Western military assistance, particularly in air defence systems.
Authorities said on Sunday that the pilot, identified as Maksym Ustymenko, died after downing seven aerial targets amid a barrage of hundreds of Russian drones and missiles. His aircraft, reportedly damaged during the final engagement, crashed before he could eject. The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the incident and said the pilot had steered the damaged jet away from populated areas.
President Zelensky paid tribute to the pilot in his nightly address and posthumously awarded him the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest state honour. “He mastered four types of aircraft and had important results to his name in defending Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “It is painful to lose such people.”
The Ukrainian military said Russia launched 477 drones and 60 missiles of various types during the attack. Ukrainian air defences intercepted 211 drones and 38 missiles, while an additional 225 drones were either downed through electronic warfare or found to be decoys.
The scale of the attack, which targeted critical infrastructure and residential areas across Ukraine, led to power outages, damaged buildings and multiple casualties. At least 12 people were injured nationwide, including two children in the Cherkasy region, where three residential buildings and a college sustained damage.
In Kyiv, residents sought shelter in metro stations as air raid sirens rang throughout the night. Explosions and machine-gun fire echoed across the capital and the western city of Lviv, which lies near the Polish border and has until recently been less frequently targeted.
Lviv’s regional governor confirmed that strategic infrastructure in the area was among the targets. Similar reports of explosions and damage came from Poltava, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Ivano-Frankivsk.
The latest assault is part of an intensified Russian campaign, which Ukrainian officials say has involved over 1,100 glide bombs, 1,270 drones and 114 missiles in just the past week. Moscow has increasingly turned to night-time aerial attacks to stretch Ukraine’s already overburdened defences.
Ukraine began operating U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets last year, and Ustymenko’s death marks the third confirmed loss of such an aircraft. While Kyiv has not disclosed the total number of F-16s in its possession, the jets are seen as a critical component of its air defence strategy, despite concerns from military experts about their effectiveness against slower, low-flying drones.
Roman Svitan, a Ukrainian defence analyst, recently said the F-16s are better suited for targeting high-speed threats and are less efficient in countering the kinds of drone swarms deployed by Russia in recent months.
The mounting attacks have led to renewed appeals for advanced air defence systems. In his address, Zelensky said, “This war must be brought to an end—pressure on the aggressor is needed, and so is protection. Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defence—the thing that best protects lives.”
He added that Ukraine was willing to purchase additional U.S.-made Patriot missile systems and urged Washington and European allies to demonstrate “leadership and political will” by expediting defence support.
So far, President Donald Trump’s administration has not announced any new aid packages for Ukraine. However, following a meeting with Zelensky at the recent NATO summit, Trump said he was reviewing Ukraine’s request for more Patriot systems.
Zelensky later reiterated on X, formerly Twitter: “Moscow will not stop as long as it can launch massive strikes. Leadership and support from the United States and Europe is critical.”
Meanwhile, in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, Moscow’s state-run RIA Novosti reported that one person was killed by a Ukrainian drone strike. Both Kyiv and Moscow continue to deny targeting civilians.
As the conflict enters its fourth year with no clear resolution in sight, Ukrainian officials warn that the latest escalation demonstrates the urgent need for bolstered defence capabilities to prevent further loss of life and infrastructure.
Rescue efforts continued through Sunday, with emergency services evacuating residents from bombed buildings, including in Cherkasy, where walls were blackened and windows shattered.
