Ukrainian pilot “Joyce” is among the three killed in a plane crash, says Volodymyr Zelensky | Ukraine

The Ukrainian Air Force said that three Ukrainian military pilots, including a surnamed Joyce who campaigned to supply F-16s, were killed on Friday when two combat training planes collided over the western region of Kiev.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, counting on the rapid training of F-16 fighter jet crews promised by Western allies, said in his evening video address that the three men included Andrei Pilchikov, a Ukrainian officer, and one of those who carried out the attack. It helped our country a lot.”

Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat Pilchikov – who was fluent in English and was 29 when interviewed by Reuters in December – described him as a “tremendous talent” and a leader for reforms.

“You can’t even imagine how much he would like to fly the F-16,” Ehnat wrote on the Internet. But now that American planes are already on the horizon, he won’t fly them.”

The Air Force announced the incident via its Telegram app. “We express our condolences to the families of the victims. This is a painful and irreparable loss for all of us.”

Pilchikov came to prominence as Joyce in the early stages of the war, appealing to American jet fighters when the ill-equipped Ukrainian Air Force was fighting to help fend off Russia’s ultimately failed efforts to take over the entire country including the capital, Kiev.

Ukraine was forced to maintain its air defense using old Soviet-era fighter jets, such as the MiG-29, which Pilchikov flew in. Speaking as Joyce in an interview with CNN two months ago, he said that Ukrainian pilots were already trying to master the basics of flying the F-16 beforehand, using improvised flight simulators and whatever unclassified clues they can find.

“I think in four to six months we can learn to fly it, and that’s realistic,” Goss told CNN. “Our transition training will be very easy.”

In 2022, he and another Ukrainian pilot, Callsign Moonfish, met with reporters in Washington as part of a campaign for Ukraine to acquire Western combat aircraft and equipment. It is assumed that the American pilots got the nickname Gus during joint training, because he did not drink alcohol.

Zelensky offered his condolences to the pilots’ families and added: “Ukraine will never forget anyone who defended the skies of a free Ukraine.”

Noting that the third Saturday of August is also the day when the Ukrainian military and civil aviation celebrate their professional day, Zelensky said that the introduction of the F-16s would mark a “new level” for military aviation.

“This will also return civil aviation to Ukrainian airspace, because it will bring us closer to victory and provide Ukraine with greater security,” he added.

Radio Svoboda shared a video showing the blackened and disfigured remains of an aircraft being removed from a field far from the front lines in the village of Sinhori, about 10 kilometers (six miles) south of Zhitomir and about 150 kilometers (90 miles) west of Kiev.

In the video, a man said he heard an explosion in the air above the school building, then two planes went down in smoke and flames. One woman described seeing two planes flying some distance from each other and then getting closer and closer to each other before the plane crashed.

Military analyst and former pilot Roman Svetan, in an interview published online by Espresso TV, said that the accident was “most likely” related to the aviation formation. He added that the standard distance ranges between 50 and 70 metres, but sometimes planes practically fly over each other at a distance of 3 to 4 metres.

He said that the L-39 was at the same time a fighter, attack aircraft, bomber and training aircraft, but during formation flight, especially at low altitudes, “there is no time for bombardment.”

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office announced the opening of a criminal investigation into whether readiness-to-fly rules were violated. “It is too early to discuss the details. All circumstances will certainly be clarified,” Zelensky said.

The L-39 – also known as the Albatross although not officially named by NATO – is a Czech-made single-engine trainer and light fighter aircraft that is the most widely used aircraft of its type in the world.

with Reuters