Ukraine says US experts are helping figure out why a Ukrainian F-16 crashed in the war with Russia

Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s air force commander says U.S. experts have joined a Ukrainian investigation into why an F-16 warplane that Ukraine received from its Western partners crashed earlier this week during a Russian bombardment. The air force chief said that “a detailed analysis is already being conducted” into why the fighter jet went down on Monday, when Russia launched a major missile and drone barrage at Ukraine. He directed scathing criticism at unconfirmed claims the fighter jet was brought down by a U.S.-made Patriot air defense missile operated by Ukrainian forces. The crash was the first reported loss of an F-16 in Ukraine, where they arrived at the end of last month. At least six of the warplanes are believed to have been delivered by European countries.