1 hour ago
By Alex Binley BBC News
Video description,
Major Pirshchikov, known by his call sign “Juice”, was interviewed by the BBC last fall.
Three Ukrainian Air Force pilots, including a well-known Ukrainian fighter pilot, died on the 25th in a mid-air collision between training planes in northern Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force announced on the 26th.
Major Andriy Pirshchikov rose to prominence after shooting down a number of Russian military planes in the defense line of Kyiv, the capital, at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
The Ukrainian military described the loss of the three pilots as a “tragic and irreversible” loss and praised Major Pirshchikov as a pilot of “enormous knowledge and immense talent”.
The Ukrainian Air Force said the crash happened over Zhitomir province, hundreds of kilometers from the front lines. Low-flying L-39 training aircraft collided with each other. The Air Force is investigating whether pre-flight procedures were followed correctly and what caused the accident.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his regular nightly video address, referred to the deaths of three pilots and said Ukraine would never forget “all those who defended Ukraine’s free skies.”
Last fall, when Russia was attacking with a large number of cruise missiles and drones, Maj. He was talking about the pressures of being a pilot of the MiG-29M.
“My mission is to intercept cruise missiles on the way, save the lives of people on the ground, and protect the city. If I fail, I feel terrible that someone will die. In a few minutes. Someone was going to die, and I couldn’t have prevented it,” he said.
He added that joining the Ukrainian Air Force has been a dream of his since childhood, and that working as a fighter pilot is his “duty.”
A friend of Major Pirshchikov’s, Melania Podoljak, also confirmed her friend’s death and posted a photo of the major’s Air Force badge on social media.
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The crash and the deaths of three pilots are of grave concern for Ukraine, which is withholding 61 F-16 fighter jets from its Western allies. Ukraine is using its high-performance F-16s to launch a more powerful counterattack against Russia.
On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that Ukrainian F-16 pilots would begin English training in Texas in September. F-16 pilot training is scheduled to begin in October in Arizona. Other Western countries are gearing up to start training Ukrainian pilots later this month.
F-16 pilot training is expected to take about five months.
In May of this year, the U.S. government made a major change in its policy and approved the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine. Until then, the United States and other NATO member nations had been reluctant to offer the F-16, saying it would lead to an escalation of the conflict with the nuclear-armed Russia.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Enat took to Facebook to commemorate Major Pirshchikov and praise his service.
“Andry met with U.S. government officials last year in the U.S. and told them what the Ukrainian Air Force needed immediately. I was at the center of a group that continued to work to do so,” Enat wrote.
He added: “Because of his good English, he was interviewed by many Western media during the war. At that time, the most important topic for him was the topic of conversation: what could he say for Ukraine?” , what to talk about!” continued the spokesman.
“You can’t imagine how much he wanted to fly an F-16… Now that American fighters are coming, he can’t fly.”
“Andriy Pirshchikov was not just a pilot, he was a young officer with great knowledge and great talent.”
“He was an excellent communicator, driving the Air Force’s fleet reforms, and participating in a variety of projects. I often endorsed his outrageous ideas, and they all yielded spectacular results.”
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2023-08-27 03:14:17
