A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot was killed during Russia’s most extensive air attack of the war, the Ukrainian Air Force said Sunday.
The pilot, identified as 1st Class Lt. Col. Maksym Ustymenko, died after shooting down seven aerial targets. The air force said Ustymenko “did everything he could to steer the aircraft away from a populated area, but he did not have time to eject.”
Ustymenko is the third F-16 pilot Ukraine has lost since the jets were introduced last summer. His death marks the fourth F-16 destroyed in combat.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to Ustymenko’s family and friends. “I have ordered a full investigation into the circumstances of his death,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “Ukrainian aviation is heroically defending our skies. Thank you to everyone protecting Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy said Russia has launched 537 aerial weapons overnight on Sunday, including 477 drones and 60 missiles. Ukrainian defenses downed 211 drones and 38 missiles; another 225 drones were jammed or identified as decoys.
Almost all night long, air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine — 477 drones were in our skies, most of them Russian-Iranian Shaheds, along with 60 missiles of various types. The Russians were targeting everything that sustains life. A residential building in Smila was also hit,… pic.twitter.com/1ExZhYAMBg
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 29, 2025
Strikes hit six regions, damaging infrastructure and homes. In Lviv, a drone sparked a fire at an industrial site, cutting power. In Kyiv, families sheltered in metro stations as machine-gun fire and explosions echoed through the city.
Casualties were reported in multiple areas. Three civilians each were killed in Kherson, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk. Additional deaths were confirmed in Kostyantynivka, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. In Smila, Cherkasy region, 11 people were injured, including two children, and several schools and a psychiatric hospital were damaged.
Zelenskyy said: “Moscow will not stop as long as it has the capability to launch massive strikes.” He noted that Russia had launched approximately 114 missiles, 1,270 drones, and 1,100 glide bombs over the past week.
Following the overnight strikes, Zelenskyy urged greater support from Washington and Western allies to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences. Since President Donald Trump assumed office, no new military aid has been provided to Ukraine.
“Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defense — the thing that best protects lives. These are American systems, which we are ready to buy. We count on leadership, political will, and the support of the United States, Europe, and all our partners,” he said.
Although Zelenskyy did not specify a particular system, earlier this month, Ukraine, through US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, formally submitted a request for Patriot missile systems to President Trump.
Last week, Trump said he was considering a Ukrainian request for additional Patriot missile systems following his meeting with Zelenskyy at a NATO summit last Wednesday.
