Ukrainian F-16 pilot killed defending country from barrage of overnight Russian airstrikes

Russia launched a barrage of airstrikes on targets across Ukraine overnight Saturday, in a series of attacks that involved 477 drones and 60 missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force announced on Sunday.

In total, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) managed to intercept 211 drones, while a further 225 failed to reach their targets, and some 33 Russian cruise missiles were shot down, the Ukrainian Air Force added. 

Intensive airstrikes were recorded in the Lviv, Zaporizhzhia and Cherkasy regions, as well as in the city of Kremenchuk in Ukraine’s Poltava region and the southern ship-building city of Mykolayiv, according to breaking news Telegram channel ASTRA.

In the town of Smila in central Ukraine’s Cherkasy region, a Russian drone strike injured six people and caused significant damage to three nine-storey buildings, as well as the National University of Food Technologies campus in the town, according to Cherkasy regional head Ihor Taburets. 

In the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, one person from the village of Naraevka was hospitalised with injuries sustained in a Russian drone strike, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported.

The AFU also announced the death of Lieutenant Colonel Maxim Ustimenko, an F-16 pilot whose aircraft was hit during a defensive operation launched against incoming Russian Shahed drones. According to the AFU, Ustimenko “flew the aircraft away from populated areas, but did not have sufficient time to eject himself”.

“The work of Ukrainian fighters is extremely dangerous and risky, both when striking enemy ground targets and repelling airstrikes. But despite everything, our pilots heroically perform combat missions, achieving maximum results,” the AFU wrote, adding that Ustimenko had “died like a hero”.