Did Ukraine Lose More F-16 Fighter Aircraft in Thursday’s Missile Attack?

Russian media picked up a report from the “Vzglyad” news site on Thursday that claimed at least two Ukrainian F-16 fighter aircraft were hit by Kh-47M2 Kinzhal high velocity missiles fired from Russian Mikoyan MiG-31Ks (NATO: Foxhound) during the large-scale drone and missile strike in the early hours of Sept. 26.

The report cited a Ukrainian milblogger Anatoly Shariy who suggested on his Telegram channel that as many as four F-16 fighters were hit on the ground during a surprise attack on the Starokostyantyniv airfield in western Ukraine. Shariy said that he was attempting to verify the report but by Saturday there had been no comment from either Ukrainian or Russian official sources.

Within hours of the initial claims, reports began to appear in other Russian and European sites. The pro-Moscow Rossiyskaya Gazeta categorized the incident as “an ambush of two F-16 jets while attempting to take off by MiG-31K interceptors of the Russian Aerospace Forces,” which the military issues site Bulgarianmilitary.com also reported.

The Russian military issues website “Top War,” reported that at about 10:00 a.m. Moscow time there was an air alert throughout Ukraine due to the takeoff of four Russian MiG-31Ks carrying Kinzhals. It then also claimed there had been an attack on the Starokostyantyniv airfield using the high-speed missiles and that after the strikes, there was a strong fire and a column of smoke visible for several kilometers. It said it was not clear what exactly was burning.

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However, the Russian Ministry of Defense’s daily report for Sept. 26 did not mention a corresponding incident. The pro-Russian Voenno Delo [Military Business] Telegram channel reported that the F-16 fighters donated by the Netherlands were hit inside hardened shelters after a delay while preparing to take off. It also said there were Su-24 (NATO: Fencer) tactical bombers at the airbase.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost their first F-16 on Aug. 26, along with its pilot Alexei Mes. The loss has been confirmed by the Ukrainian General Staff, without specifying the cause of the crash. No other losses have yet been officially announced.

The Fighterbomber millblogger, who is said to have links with the Russian Aerospace Forces made only an oblique reference to Thursday’s incident by publishing a statement supposed to have been posted by the wife of a US military advisor. It said:

“STEVEN IS DEAD. My husband is dead. F****ing Russia and f****ing Ukraine!! He died because of this whole foreign instructor program bulls**t. I don’t know why he agreed to it... He hasn’t been home in months. And now he’s gone. And I don’t understand HOW are they going to get my husband back from that f***ing Starokostyantyniv?? And who is going to get the rest of the dead men back to their families here?? Someone is upset about these five f****ing F-16s. You are f****ing idiots. Enough. Our people are dying who knows where and for what?”

Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) categorically denied the Russian reports on its Telegram channel saying they were “fakes.” It said the reports were aimed at manipulating public opinion and created a fiction intended to reinforce the narrative about the “inefficiency” of Western aircraft. They point out that Russian propaganda had begun to spread fakes about the downing of the F-16 even before the fighter jets were delivered to Ukraine.

The Starokostyantyniv airfield, which has been the main base for Ukrainian tactical bombers since the start of the current war has been the subject of several previous attacks, the heaviest being in June and July using Kh-101 cruise missiles and Shahed drones where Russian claims that aircraft had been destroyed was denied by Ukraine. Kyiv has also neither confirmed or denied that F-16s are based there.

This “attack” was carried out just as the US was announcing the provision of the AGM-154 Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW) glide bombs which would greatly increase the F-16’s strike ability. Today also marked the formal retirement of the last Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF)A F-16, after almost 45 years of service. With the announcement that the Dutch F-35A fighter aircraft have attained full operational capability this throws up two dozen refurbished F-16s for transfer to Ukraine.

Kyiv Post has currently been unable to independently verify or disprove the incident,  which, as suggested by the CCD, could simply be a further attempt at disinformation aimed at undermining the provision of F-16s to Ukraine “because Kyiv can’t protect them.”.