A Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed overnight while defending the country from one of the largest Russian air attacks to date, officials said Sunday.
Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustymenko, 31, died after his fighter jet was damaged during an operation to intercept Russian missiles and drones, Ukraine’s Air Force reported.
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During the defense operation, Ustymenko, a first-class pilot, destroyed seven enemy air targets aboard his F-16 before his aircraft sustained critical damage. He managed to steer his jet away from populated areas but was unable to eject in time.
“He died like a hero,” Ukraine’s Air Force said in a statement, offering condolences to his family.
The overnight attack on June 29 was a combined strike involving 537 air targets – cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles, as well as Shahed-type drones, according to Ukraine’s Air Force and monitoring groups.
The assault included:
- 477 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs, launched from Russian territory and occupied Crimea;
- 4 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles from Russia’s Tambov region;
- 7 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from Voronezh region and Crimea;
- 41 Kh-101 and Iskander-K cruise missiles from Saratov, Kursk, and Bryansk regions;
- 5 Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea;
- 3 S-300 guided missiles from Russia’s Kursk region.
Ukrainian air defenses, including fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare systems, and mobile fire groups, were activated across the country. As of 8:30 a.m., Ukrainian forces had destroyed or neutralized 475 enemy targets, including:
- 211 Shahed drones shot down, with an additional 225 drones suppressed by electronic warfare;
- 1 Iskander ballistic missile shot down;
- 33 Kh-101/Iskander-K cruise missiles shot down, one neutralized by electronic systems;
- 4 Kalibr cruise missiles shot down.
Debris from downed targets was recorded in at least eight locations, while six regions reported active air attacks.
The missile attack lasted nearly three hours, while the drone assault continued for almost 10 hours.
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Multiple regions were targeted, including Kremenchuk, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy, Lviv, and the capital, Kyiv.
Dozens of explosions were reported in Kremenchuk alone, where both missiles and drones struck. An industrial facility in the Poltava region caught fire as a result, officials said.
In Zaporizhzhia, a production site was damaged, though no casualties were reported. Three people were injured in Cherkasy after missiles hit civilian infrastructure, according to regional authorities.
In Lviv, officials said critical infrastructure was targeted, but no civilian injuries or major damage to residential areas occurred. Explosions were also heard in Kyiv, where air defense systems were active, though further details were not immediately provided.
Ustymenko is the third Ukrainian F-16 pilot to die in combat since Ukraine introduced the Western fighter jets into its arsenal last year.
The first fatality occurred on August 26, 2024, when Lt. Col. Oleksii “Moonfish” Mes died after his F-16 crashed while intercepting a Russian missile and drone attack. Another pilot, Pavlo Ivanov, was killed during a combat mission in April 2025.
Ukrainian pilots continue to carry out dangerous missions under constant risk as Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its third year, shows no sign of ending.
