[Report] According to Reuters, the Ukrainian military stated that a French-supplied “Mirage-2000” fighter jet, which was involved in an equipment failure during its mission on the 22nd, crashed in the northwestern part of the country. The pilot managed to eject safely. This marks the first loss of the type of fighter jet for the Ukrainian military since they began receiving “Mirage” aircraft earlier this year.
The Ukrainian military released a statement on social media platform Telegram stating, “An equipment failure occurred, and the pilot reported the issue to the air traffic controllers.” The pilot then took reasonable measures to deal with the crisis situation and successfully ejected from the plane. Rescue personnel found the pilot’s condition stable, with no casualties on the ground.
Furthermore, according to a recent report by AFP, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed the news on the 23rd local time. “Regrettably, we have lost a fighter jet. A French fighter jet, one of our ‘Mirage’ fighters,” he said in his speech. “The pilot managed to escape successfully, and the plane did not fall into Russian hands.”
In February this year, France delivered the first batch of “Mirage-2000” fighter jets to Ukraine. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that providing Ukraine with French “Mirage-2000” fighter jets would only lead to a larger deadlock between Western countries and Ukraine.