Is Zelenskyy sending mixed messages on the downing of second F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine?

Ukraine has said an F-16 fighter jet was downed during a combat mission on Saturday. It also confirmed the death of the 26-year-old pilot, Pavlo Ivanov, in the mission, according to reports.

The Ukrainian Air Force attributed the loss of the US-made jet to the Russian attack, stating "On April 12, 2025, while performing a combat mission on an F-16 aircraft, 26-year-old Pavel Ivanov died (...) he died in combat." However, what grabbed the eyeballs was how Kyiv did not mention the circumstances leading to the incident and the death of Ivanov

Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy too confirmed Pavlov's death, adding that Kyiv "needs reports from the military on this combat situation." "We are investigating all the circumstances," the President added. He also vowed a "strong and precise" response, implying Russia was to blame.

While both Russian and military bloggers claimed the F-16 was brought down by a surface-to-air missile, speculations that it was Ukrainians themselves who brought down the F-16 in friendly fire have gained strength, especially in the wake of Zelenskyy's statement that Kyiv needed reports from the military in this regard.

The UAF statement has also fuelled these rumours as the carefully worded statement mentioned how "F-16 pilots carry out combat missions in various directions in incredibly difficult conditions, carrying out destructive cover for airstrike groups and striking enemy objects". 

Pro-Russian media have also questioned why the Ukrainian Air Force sought an enquiry into the incident if the downing of the jet was a combat loss. " A clear combat loss would hardly merit such a probe," RT News said. It suggested that Kyiv could be suspecting friendly fire.  

Interestingly, this marks the second confirmed loss of an F-16 in Ukraine.  The first loss was reportedly on August 2-24 when an F-16 and its pilot Oleksii Mes died while the "aircraft was responding to a Russian missile attack". Though Ukraine had announced a probe into it, the results were never announced. However, a report in the Wall Street Journal suggested that it was an incident of friendly fire or a mechanical failure. 

Recently, the Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yuri Ignat stoked a controversy after he complained about how the older variants of the F-16 gifted to Ukraine by its allies could not fully compete with Russia’s Su-35 in aerial combat.

Though the F-16 was considered a leap from Soviet-era jets like the MiG-29 and Su-27, it fades out in comparison to Russia's Su-35 as it lacked the latter's thrust-vectoring manoeuvrability. Ukraine's Western allies, including the Netherlands and Denmark, had then called the F-16 game-changers, but the claims were tempered by the reality.

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