Pilot F-16 Pavel Ivanova's aircraft knocked down the Russian rocket-Air Force

To spread: Three rockets were launched by the Russian fighter, the newspaper reported with a reference to the source. "Friendly Fire" reported by some media outlets. Where Pavlov worked, there was no Ukrainian air defense. The BBC writes about it. The death of 26-year-old Pilot Pavel Ivanov was reported on April 12. It is stated that the tragedy happened during the combat mission. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded the F-16 pilot the title of Hero of Ukraine.

According to sources of the publication, Ivanov's aircraft was probably shot down by a Russian rocket. "In total, three rockets were released on the plane. It was either a controlled anti-aircraft missile from the T-400 land complex, or the R-37 air-air-air rocket," said the interlocutor in power. Circumstances are still investigating. But, the source excludes "friendly fire" in this situation.

According to him, in the area where Ivanov was performed, there could be no work of Ukrainian air defense systems. According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces, Ivanov died on Saturday, April 12. The scene and circumstances are not officially reported. The only clarification of the Air Force that it was a combat departure. "He died in battle, defending his native land from the invaders . . .

Today, the F-16 pilots perhaps daily perform combat tasks in different directions in incredibly difficult conditions, carrying out the fighter cover of aviation shock groups and strikes in hostile objects," the statement said. All the circumstances of the tragedy are established by an interagency commission that has already started its work.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to the pilot family and stressed that he had already heard the military reports on this combat situation. On the evening of April 12, the President of Ukraine awarded Ivanov the title Hero of Ukraine for "personal courage and heroism, revealed in the protection of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine". The couple of Ukrainian photographers Konstantin and the authorities of Liberov published the photos of Pilot Pavel Ivanov.

But they expressed sympathy. The loss of the board under the command of Pavel Ivanov is the second confirmed loss of the pilot and the F-16 aircraft, which Ukraine received in July 2024. The first such tragedy happened on August 26, when the plane under the steering of an experienced pilot Alexei Mesa (Call sign "Munfish") reflected Russia's rocket attack over the western regions of Ukraine.