{"id":338,"date":"2025-07-23T08:52:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T08:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/?p=338"},"modified":"2025-07-23T14:09:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T14:09:00","slug":"ukraine-loses-french-supplied-fighter-jet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/ukraine-loses-french-supplied-fighter-jet\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine loses French-supplied fighter jet"},"content":{"rendered":"

The crash comes as Kiev seeks tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to sustain its campaign against Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ukrainian air force has reported the first loss of a French-supplied Mirage 2000 fighter jet in what officials described as an equipment failure on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

France pledged six of its 26 Mirage 2000 jets to Kiev as part of a multibillion-euro military aid program supporting Ukraine in its armed conflict with Russia. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced the delivery of the first three jets in early February.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian media reported the crash occurred in the Volyn Region in western Ukraine, far from the front line. Video circulating online appeared to show the pilot descending by parachute.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian military commended the pilot of the downed aircraft, saying he acted “professionally”<\/em> and safely ejected. Air Force public communications chief Yury Ignat said the unidentified pilot “did everything to divert the aircraft to a safe place far from any settlement.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 First losses of French Mirage 2000 in Ukraine<\/p>\n

The fighter crashed due to engine failure. The French were delivering aircraft built in the 1980s to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which were modernized in the 2000s. pic.twitter.com\/6reN9Hzzg4<\/a><\/p>\n

— King Chelsea Ug \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa (@ug_chelsea) July 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Such incidents are common all over the world,”<\/em> Ignat added. “The important thing is the pilot is alive and well.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"A
British F-35 finally leaves India after 39 days grounded (VIDEO)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ukraine has previously confirmed the loss of multiple<\/a> US-made F-16 fighter jets in combat. While Kiev initially asserted that Western aircraft would provide a battlefield advantage, they have largely been used for intercepting Russian long-range missiles due to a shortage of air defense systems.<\/p>\n

The Mirage 2000 models sent by France are older and were scheduled for retirement by 2029. France also trained Ukrainian pilots to operate them.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian military relies heavily on foreign aid to pay and equip its forces. Denis Shmigal, the former prime minister recently appointed<\/a> defense minister in a government reshuffle, said this week the military would need at least $120 billion next year. He made the statement while addressing Ukrainian ambassadors, urging them to seek additional foreign support.<\/p>\n

Following a meeting with international arms donors Monday in Germany, Shmigal said Kiev faces a $6 billion shortfall in weapons procurement.<\/p>\n

Russia has condemned Western arms shipments, warning they only prolong the conflict without changing its outcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The crash comes as Kiev seeks tens of billions of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions\/342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}