A Ukrainian F-16 Viper pilot repelling Russian air attacks ejected before his donated aircraft crashed, the Ukrainian Air Force said Friday. The incident took place about 3:30 a.m. local time.
“According to preliminary data, the pilot destroyed three air targets and was working on the fourth, using an aircraft cannon,” the Ukrainian Air Force stated on Telegram. “However, an emergency situation arose on board. The pilot took the plane away from the settlement and successfully ejected.”
The nature of the emergency remains unclear.
“Thanks to the prompt work of the search and rescue team, the pilot was quickly found and evacuated,” the Air Force added. “The pilot’s well-being is satisfactory, he is in a safe place, his life and health are not in danger. A commission has been appointed to objectively clarify all the circumstances, and it has already begun work.”
While we don’t yet know what caused the crash, firing a fighter’s gun against small and possibly slow-moving targets — such as cruise missiles and drones — is far more dangerous than many realize, a topic we have discussed frequently in the past. Flying into the target is a real risk, among other factors. This is especially true at night.
From an earlier story: “The speed and engagement dynamics involved can result in controlled flight into the ground below as well as ramming into the very object you are trying to shoot down. There is also the danger of the grenade-like cannon rounds impacting the ground below over a relatively wide area, potentially killing innocent people. Doing it at night is a whole other level of danger.”
For Ukraine, this is at least the third loss of a Viper.
In April, Ukrainian F-16 pilot Pavlo Ivanov, 26, “was killed in battle defending his native land from the invaders,” the Ukrainian Air Force stated at the time. “All the circumstances of the tragedy are established by the interdepartmental commission, which has already begun its work.”
In August 2024, F-16 pilot Oleksiy Mes died during Russia’s largest aerial barrage of the war. Before his F-16 went down, Mes, who went by the call sign “Moonfish,” shot down three Russian cruise missiles and a one-way attack drone, Ukrainian Air Force Command West said on Facebook at the time.
In all, around 85 operational F-16s have now been promised to Ukraine. That total includes 24 from the Netherlands, 19 from Denmark, and 12 from Norway (with the same country providing 10 more that will be used for spare parts), while Belgium says it will supply 30. Of this grand total, it should be noted that at least some of the jets are not being sent to Ukraine but are instead being used for training Ukrainian pilots, primarily at the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) in Romania. The U.S. is now donating airframes it says are not airworthy, which you can read more about here.
The Latest
On the battlefield, Ukraine continues to fight inside Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions while fending off increasing Russian attacks and bracing for a looming large-scale summer offensive. Here are the latest takeaways from the Institute for the Study of War’s (ISW) latest assessment.
- Kursk: Fighting continued in Kursk Oblast on May 14 and 15. Russian milbloggers claimed that fighting is still ongoing in Tetkino and near Novyi Put (both southwest of Glushkovo).
- Belgorod: Russian forces continued limited attacks in northwestern Belgorod Oblast but did not make confirmed advances.
- Sumy: Russian forces continued offensive operations in northern Sumy Oblast on May 15 but did not make confirmed advances.
- Kharkiv: Russian forces continued offensive operations in northern Kharkiv Oblast on May 15 but did not advance.
- Luhansk: Russian forces recently advanced in the Lyman direction, however, they made no progress toward Borova or Kupiansk.
- Donetsk: Russian forces advanced toward Novopavlivka, Toretsk and Velyka Novosilka but made no progress toward Chasiv Yar, Kurahkove, Pokrovsk or Siversk.
- Zaporizhia: Russian forces continued offensive operations in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast on May 15 but did not advance.
- Kherson: Russian forces continued attacks in the Kherson direction on May 15 but did not make confirmed advances.
Ukraine is bracing for what could be a large-scale Russian summer offensive.
“Russia is amassing forces on the frontlines for a possible new offensive intended to capture more Ukrainian territory,” CNN reported, citing two US officials with knowledge of the latest U.S. assessments.
Russian commanders “aspire to generate a big force,” the first U.S. official told the network, adding that the likely offensive is focused on gaining more ground in eastern Ukraine.
“Putin will attempt to take whatever land he can get right up to the outskirts of Kyiv,” the second U.S. official said. “The Russians are going to make every effort to get what they can.”
While in Turkey, “Zelensky stated that the Russian army has been conducting an offensive for several months, with the Sumy sector as the primary direction, where 67,000 troops have been concentrated,” Ukrinform reported.
Adding to Ukraine’s concerns, Putin has appointed Colonel General Andrey Mordvichev, who led the assault on Mariupol in 2022, as the Commander of the Russian Ground Forces, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Russian state-controlled media.
“The appointment comes amid media reports claiming that Russia is preparing a major new offensive in Ukraine despite ongoing peace efforts led by the U.S.,” the publication explained. “Mordvichev was a commander of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army of Russia’s Southern Military District, which was heavily involved in the devastating 2022 siege of Mariupol which killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians, according to Kyiv.”
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that while stationed in Mariupol in September 2022, “Mordvichev reportedly met with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to approve plans for the final assault on the city, including the encirclement and storming of Azovstal, where Ukrainian troops and civilians were sheltering,” the publication continued. “Under Mordvichev’s command, Russian troops carried out the destruction of civilian infrastructure and committed atrocities against both civilians and the Ukrainian military, the SBU said.”
SBU “also found that Mordvichev has been directly involved in other areas of Russia’s full-scale invasion, including the coordination of Russian forces in the Donetsk Oblast,” the Kyiv Independent continued. “It was also reported that Putin personally praised him and awarded him the title of Hero of Russia for the capture of Avdiivka on March 28, 2024.”
Even as it had negotiators in Istanbul, Russia launched several attacks on Ukrainian cities.
The first direct peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in three years ended with scant discernible progress made toward ending the war. The talks in Istanbul lasted less than two hours. However, the two sides did agree to swap prisoners.
“A Ukrainian source with knowledge of the negotiations said the Russian delegation ‘did not have a mandate to make important decisions,’” CNN reported. “They are not ready to decide anything meaningful to end the war,” the source told the network.
Russia “voiced a number of things which we deem unacceptable” during Friday’s talks, the Ukrainian foreign minister’s spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, told reporters in Istanbul, the network explained. He added that Ukraine’s delegation “handled it in a calm manner … still staying with our line.”
Tykhyi “did not expand on what those unacceptable things were,” CNN noted.
He added that the Ukrainian delegation “was ready to have a ceasefire agreed today,” but this might not have been achievable because Russia’s low-level delegation “probably has [a] limited mandate.”
“The chasm between the two sides was quickly apparent, according to the Ukrainian source who told Reuters that Russia’s demands were ‘detached from reality and go far beyond anything that was previously discussed,’” Reuters reported.
“No agreement was reached concerning a full 30-day ceasefire and Moscow reportedly demanded Kyiv withdraw from four regions Russia invaded,” according to Euronews. “Ukrainian media reported these four regions were Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – none of which Russia fully controls.”
“According to both delegations, the two sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each – the largest such swap since the war began,” Euronews added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the two sides agreed in principle to meet again.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday European nations were coordinating with Washington on additional sanctions against Russia, should it continue to refuse an “unconditional ceasefire” with Ukraine, Barrons reported.
“We are continuing to prepare new sanctions in coordination with the United States,” Macron told reporters at a leaders’ meeting in Albania, after Kyiv-Moscow talks in Istanbul ended without a breakthrough.
Expectations for the meeting were low after Russian President Vladimir Putin opted to stay home, instead sending a fairly low-level negotiating team. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had been in Turkey, said he would meet Putin there. That never transpired.
After the talks concluded, Zelensky said he and the leaders of France, Germany, the U.K. and Poland discussed the meeting with Trump and called for more sanctions against Russia.
“Ukraine is ready to take the fastest possible steps to bring real peace, and it is important that the world holds a strong stance,” Zelensky wrote on X. “Our position — if the Russians reject a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings, tough sanctions must follow. Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war.”
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said his nation was prepared to wage war for years, according to a tweet from The Economist reporter Oliver Carroll.
“We don’t want war, but we’re ready to fight for a year, two, three—however long it takes,” Medinsky said, according to Carroll, who cited a well-placed source. “We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight?”
Prior to the Ukraine-Russia talks, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrii Yermak, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Istanbul.
“The three delegations discussed the importance of seeking a peaceful end to the Russia-Ukraine war,” State spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a short statement. “The Secretary noted today’s direct talks between Russia and Ukraine while reiterating the U.S. position that the killing needs to stop. Rubio also thanked Fidan for hosting these important discussions.”
Also ahead of the bilateral talks, the Ukrainian leader said his “number one priority is a full, unconditional and honest ceasefire.”
Trump said Friday that he’s working to set up direct talks with Putin as soon as he can.
“I think it’s time for us to just do it,” Trump told reporters as he wrapped a four-day visit to the Middle East. Later, he told reporters on Air Force One that he might call Putin soon.
“He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it or maybe not,” Trump stated. “At least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it’ll be very interesting.”
Trump had previously told reporters that “nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together.”
The U.S. president also said that because he wasn’t going to Istanbul, Putin wasn’t either.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blasted Zelensky, calling Ukraine’s president “a miserable person” for “demanding” that Putin show up in Istanbul.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink spoke out for the first time about why she resigned from the position over Trump’s approach to the war.
“I could no longer in good faith carry out the administration’s policy and felt it was my duty to step down,” she wrote in an opinion piece for her hometown Detroit Free Press. “After nearly three decades serving our country, I resigned as our ambassador to Ukraine.”
“I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, and children killed with impunity,” she added. “I believe that the only way to secure U.S. interests is to stand up for democracies and to stand against autocrats. Peace at any price is not peace at all ― it is appeasement. And history has taught us time and again that appeasement does not lead to safety, security or prosperity. It leads to more war and suffering.”
Financial Times says it has “uncovered how hundreds of millions of dollars Kyiv paid to foreign arms intermediaries to secure vital military equipment has gone to waste over the past three years of war.” The publication explained that its investigation was “based on leaked Ukrainian state documents, court filings and dozens of interviews with procurement officials, weapons dealers and manufacturers, and detectives.”
“To date, Ukraine has paid out $770mn in advance to foreign arms brokers for weapons and ammunition that have not been delivered, according to figures from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, as well as documents seen by the FT,” the publication reported. “This represents a significant chunk of Ukraine’s annual $6bn-$8bn weapons budget spent from its own state funds since the start of the invasion. At the same time, some foreign arms companies say they have been the victims of infighting and corruption by Ukrainian officials and state weapons brokers, which may account for some of the missing millions.”
Ukrainian drones struck a Russian military base in occupied Crimea’s Perevalne village on Friday, reportedly causing explosions, fires, and casualties, according to the ATESH partisan movement and the Crimean Wind Telegram channel. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Telegram that its air defenses “destroyed and intercepted 65 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles” on Friday, including 43 over the Black Sea and 21 over Crimea.
Videos emerged on social media of explosions and fire at military depots in Perevalne — a district of Simferopol where Russia’s 126th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade is stationed.
Ukraine claims it stopped a mechanized assault in Russia’s Belgorod region. The following video shows several Russian armored vehicles, motorcycles and troops coming under attack.
With the ubiquity of drones on the battlefield for both sides, each is focusing a lot of effort on striking the archer, not the arrow. In the following video, Ukraine’s Flying Skull battalion says the Ukrainian Air Force struck a Russian FPV drone base.
The Ukrainian company Fulltime Robotics says it has developed a line of directed energy weapons, including what it calls the 1.5 kW-powered SlimBeam laser turret.
“SlimBeam is designed to neutralize drones and other air threats at a distance of up to 1 km,” according to the Ukrainian Militarnyi news outlet. “The system supports both autonomous operation and remote control via a web application. This allows it to operate effectively without risk to personnel.”
The laser turret “can be integrated into mobile platforms or function as a stationary solution for protecting critical infrastructure and strategic facilities,” Militarnyi added. “According to the declared characteristics, the installation is capable of neutralizing small drones at a distance of up to 800 meters. In addition, blinding UAV cameras is possible at a distance of up to 2 kilometers. The laser can also be used to neutralize explosives and in mine clearance operations.”
In addition to defensive operations, the system can be used offensively, Fulltime Robotics claimed.
“The military can use the laser for sabotage: burn down a castle from a distance, conduct mine clearance or detonate,” the company stated. “We are ready to develop more powerful lasers that will work at longer distances, but this requires scaling.”
A video released by the company shows the turret in the back of a vehicle burning a metal plate 100 meters away. However, it seems to be early in the development process. We’ve reached out to the company and Ukraine’s Brave1 collective for more details.
And finally, the war has devastated Ukraine on so many levels, including environmentally. In addition to having to cope with destroyed farmland, tens of thousands of unexploded munitions and mines and rubbled cities, Ukraine now finds a lot of its territory covered in fiber optic cables. Both sides have been using the cables because they are virtually impervious to jamming. They also allow for operators to maintain control of their drones when geography, obstacles, or just flying low can degrade line-of-sight radio connectivity. The video below shows one tree in particular, which is in a frequently used drone flight path, covered in cables..
That’s it for now.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com