Ukrainian Su-24 bomber crashes in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, killing pilots, Air Force confirms
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Editor's Note: This is a developing story.
A Ukrainian Su-24 bomber crashed in Khmelnytskyi Oblast the evening of June 16, killing both the pilot and navigator, the Air Force reported.
The crash occurred at around 7 p.m. while the aircraft was carrying out a mission in Ukraine's central-western Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the Air Force said. The pilot and navigator were aboard a Su-24 front-line bomber belonging to the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade.
Khmelnytskyi Oblast hosts the Starokostiantyniv Air Base where the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade is stationed.
The cause and circumstances of the crash are currently under investigation. Rescue crews and law enforcement are currently working at the site, and no civilian casualties have been reported.
The Air Force identified the pilots killed in the crash as Major Bohdan Hryhorovych Zaharulko and Senior Lieutenant Bohdan Oleksandrovych Babenko.
"We express our sincere condolences to the families of (Zaharulko and Babenko), who defended our country to the last breath," the Air Force said.
Earlier in the day, local residents reported an explosion in the region's Shepetivka district and posted footage of the purported crash site to social media, with some accounts mislabeling the aircraft as a MiG-29 jet.
The Sukhoi Su-24 is a Soviet-developed twin-engine tactical bomber still in use by both Ukrainian and Russian forces. Ukraine inherited its stock of Su-24 aircraft from the Soviet Union after its dissolution, and the jets are currently operated by the Air Force's 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade.
Throughout the full-scale war, Ukraine has rarely reported losses of its fighter jets and other military equipment targeted by Russia. Meanwhile, Moscow periodically claims to have carried out strikes on Ukrainian airfields, though many of these claims cannot be independently verified.
In April 2025, Pavlo Ivanov, a 26-year-old Ukrainian F-16 pilot, was killed during a combat mission. Ivanov's death marks the second F-16 pilot loss for Ukraine since receiving these jets, following Oleksii Mes's death in a crash in August 2024.
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