Since Ukraine received the first Western aid of the us-made F-16 fighter jets, the Russian military as a“Thorn in the side”, trying to destroy it through various means. Ukrainian “Kyiv Post” 28, said that the russian-ukrainian social media circulating “Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was destroyed in a Russian air strike,” all kinds of news, but on the true or false, the outside world is divided.
File Photo: Ukrainian President Sergei Zelensky watches two F-16 fighter jets 2024 on August 4, local time.
According to the report, earlier reports circulated in the Russian media said that in the early morning of September 26, Russian forces launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian Starokostiantyniv Airport, “At least two Ukrainian F-16s” were hit by a “Dagger” hypersonic missile fired from a Russian MiG-31 K . According to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, two F-16 fighter jets were attacked by Russian hypersonic missiles during an emergency takeoff. Another Ukrainian source said, “Four Ukrainian F-16s were destroyed,” but neither Ukrainian nor Russian officials have any comment on this.
Ukraine’s Air Force admitted it was hit by four Russian“Dagger” hypersonic missiles, but did not disclose the specific damage. The Kyiv Post said the Starokostiantyniv Airport had been the main base for Ukrainian su-24 tactical bombers during the Russian-ukrainian conflict, the airport is widely considered to be the best place for the Ukrainian Air Force to deploy the F-16, with its command tower, radar station and small factories for producing high-pressure air and purifying aviation kerosene. As a result, before and after Ukraine acquired the F-16, the airport has been subject to Russian air strikes, including large-scale KH-101 cruise missiles and long-range suicide drone attacks. Russian satellite network said that in the early morning of May 30 air strikes, the Starokostiantyniv Kostiantynivka five times, “One of the vaults was hit, where the Ukrainian forces hid the fighters and their ammunition, with a series of explosions and sparks coming out of it.”.
Russia’s Komsomolskaya Gazeta cited another piece of news circulating on social media as evidence of the“Heavy losses suffered by the Ukrainian F-16”. According to the report, the wife of a US military adviser said her husband Stephen died instantly after being attacked at the Starokostiantyniv Airport. “Stephen is dead, my husband is dead… … He was killed because of some hateful foreign instructor’s plan . And some people are still frustrated with the five F-16s . You are fucking idiots.” “The number of F-16s lost by the Ukrainian army was thus unintentionally disclosed by the widow of the American military adviser”.
Ukraine’s anti-disinformation Centre flatly denied claims on Russian social media that they were“Fake news” intended to“Manipulate public opinion”, “Fabricating a narrative of western fighter underperformance”. “Even before the F-16 was delivered to Ukraine, Russian propaganda began spreading false information about the shooting down of the F-16,” the center stressed.
Whether or not “The Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was destroyed in a Russian air strike” is true, the Kyiv Post says, the air strike came as the United States announced it was supplying Ukraine with AGM-154“Joint out-of-area weapons”(JSOW) gliders, ground-to-ground assault weapons that can be mounted on the F-16. According to the American power website, “The AGM-154’joint out-of-area weapon’ is well suited to the unique combat environment of Ukraine. This precision-guided bomb can glide automatically from high altitude to a target 130 kilometres away and from low altitude to a target 22 kilometres away. Static or semi-static air defense systems are particularly useful for geolocation of attack targets. Imaging infrared sensors for terminal guidance are immune to radio frequency interference. In addition, its characteristic signal is very small, so it is very difficult for the Russian air defense system to shoot it down. The report also noted that the Dutch Air Force recently announced the last F-16 fighters retired, which means the Netherlands will be able to provide Ukraine with more than 20 refurbished F-16 fighters.