Ukrainian pilot dies in MiG-29 crash
A Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot was killed after completing a combat mission early on Aug. 23, according to a statement by Ukraine's Air Force.
The pilot, Major Serhii Bondar, died during landing, the Air Force said in its statement. The causes and circumstances are still being established, it added.
The Air Force did not specify what mission the pilot was carrying out when the death occurred. During Russia's aerial attacks on Ukraine, which have grown increasingly intense and frequent in recent months, Ukraine's pilots often work with land-based air defense to repel the attacks.
Overnight, Russia attacked Ukraine with 49 Shahed combat drones and decoys, according to the Air Force. Thirteen struck targets, while 36 were repelled, the Air Force said.
In June, Bondar was formally honored alongside other soldiers with a state award "for personal courage shown in protecting the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and selfless performance of military duty" in a formal decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky. He was born in 1979.
Several pilots have died since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including the recent death of F-16 pilot Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustymenko, who died in June while repelling a massive Russian aerial attack of 477 drones and 60 missiles. Ustymenko shot down seven targets that night before his aircraft was damaged, and lost alitutde before crashing.
