Maksym Ustimenko’s aircraft shot down seven air targets before losing altitude and crashing, the air force says.

Ukraine has lost an F-16 aircraft and its pilot while repelling a Russian missile and drone strike, according to country’s air force, as heavy fighting in the war, now in its fourth year, grinds on daily with no signs of a ceasefire on the horizon.

After shooting down seven air targets, the plane was damaged and lost altitude overnight, the Ukrainian military said in a statement published on Telegram on Sunday.

“This night, while repelling a massive enemy air attack, a pilot of the 1st class, Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustimenko, born in 1993, died on an F-16 aircraft,” it said.

In a separate statement, the air force said Russia launched 537 projectiles against Ukraine, including Shahed drones, cruise and ballistic missiles. Ukraine claimed to have intercepted 475 of them.

According to the Kyiv Independent newspaper, the sound of explosions and strikes was reported in multiple areas across the country, including in southern Mykolaiv, southeastern Zaporizhia and western Lviv.

Ihor Taburets, the governor of central Ukraine’s Cherkasy region, said at least six people were injured and civilian infrastructure was damaged in attacks. Three multistorey buildings and a college were damaged in the attack, he said.

Industrial facilities were hit in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv and the central Dnipropetrovsk region, officials say. Local authorities published photos of high-rise residential buildings with charred walls and broken windows, and rescuers evacuating people.

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In Russia, the Ministry of Defence said its forces destroyed three Ukrainian drones in the border regions of Kursk and Rostov, and in Ukraine’s annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency said one person was killed by a Ukrainian drone in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Luhansk region. Moscow also claimed Sunday that it had taken control of the village of Novoukrainka in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region.

The latest wave of violence comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he intended to scale back military expenditure and also indicated he was ready for a new round of peace negotiations with Ukraine.

In the past months, Moscow and Kyiv have sent delegations twice to the Turkish city of Istanbul for peace talks, but have made no progress towards ending the conflict, which started after Russia invaded its neighbour more than three years ago.

However, both sides agreed upon and showed cooperation on prisoners’ swap.

Leaving the anti-landmine treaty

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on Sunday setting Ukraine on the road to leaving the antimine Ottawa Convention, according to a document published on his website.

The treaty bans signatories from acquiring, producing, stockpiling or using antipersonnel mines, which are designed to be buried or hidden on the ground, and often cause terrible injuries to victims, including the loss of limbs, who survive their impact.

Rights groups have often decried the long-term risk of unexploded landmines for civilians. More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, though neither the United States nor Russia has joined.

The decision still must be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament, and the United Nations would then need to be notified.

Confronted with Russia’s invasion, “Ukraine is compelled to give unconditional priority to the security of its citizens and the defence of the state,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“Russia … uses mines against our military and civilians on a massive scale. We cannot remain bound by conditions when the enemy has no restrictions,” Ukrainian lawmaker Roman Kostenko said on social media.

The treaty withdrawal follows similar decisions by Kyiv’s allies – Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – which are all neighbours of Russia.

KYIV- A Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed while defending against a massive Russian air attack, marking a significant loss for Ukraine’s Air Force (UAF). The incident occurred overnight in Kyiv (KBP), highlighting the ongoing intensity of the conflict.

Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustimenko’s aircraft was downed after intercepting семи targets, underscoring the high risks faced by Ukraine’s elite pilots. The attack, one of Russia’s largest, targeted multiple Ukrainian regions, causing widespread damage.

Photo: By Steve Lynes from Sandshurst, United Kingdom – EGUL – General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon – United States Air Force – 86-0307 / FM, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89229877

Ukrainian F-16 Pilot Killed

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched 537 aerial projectiles overnight, including Iranian-made Shahed drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles. Ukrainian defense systems managed to intercept 475 of these threats.

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Despite the success rate, some weapons reached critical infrastructure and residential zones.

During the operation, the F-16 flown by Ustimenko successfully destroyed seven enemy air targets before sustaining damage. The aircraft lost altitude and crashed, resulting in the pilot’s death.

Ustimenko, born in 1993, was among the country’s most experienced fighter pilots and held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Ukrainian Air Force.

Industrial facilities in Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv sustained heavy damage. Local officials shared images of scorched residential towers, shattered windows, and emergency responders evacuating civilians from affected areas.

Cherkasy Region Governor Ihor Taburets reported that at least six people were injured and several multi-storey buildings, along with a college, were damaged in the attacks.

Photo: GoodFon

Russian Response

In a separate development, Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed its forces neutralized three Ukrainian drones targeting Kursk (URSS), Rostov (ROV), and the annexed Crimean Peninsula. No casualties were reported on the Russian side.

The strikes reflect a continuing escalation of hostilities, even as diplomatic overtures remain stalled. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently expressed a desire to reduce defense spending and resume peace talks.

However, despite two earlier meetings in Istanbul between Ukrainian and Russian delegations, no substantial progress has been made.

Prisoner exchanges remain the only point of cooperation, with both sides maintaining limited dialogue in this area, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Russia claims Military Advances in Ukraine; Photo- StratNews

Ongoing Conflict

The death of an F-16 pilot marks a significant moment in Ukraine’s defense efforts. The Western-supplied fighter jets were expected to enhance Ukraine’s air defense capabilities. The incident raises concerns about the sustainability of Ukraine’s air operations under continued heavy fire from Russia.

Ukraine’s use of the F-16 was seen as a strategic upgrade, with international backing aimed at countering Russia’s air superiority. The downing of one of these jets, therefore, is not only a tactical loss but also a symbolic blow to Ukraine’s aerial defense strategy.

Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.

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By David Adkins, CNN

(CNN) — Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw will be the Democratic nominee in the upcoming special election to replace the late Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, district party officials announced Saturday after a party-run primary.

Walkinshaw will face Republican Stewart Whitson, who also won a party-run nominating event Saturday.

Connolly had represented Virginia’s 11th district in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. for 16 years before he died of cancer in May. He endorsed Walkinshaw, who served as his chief of staff for more than a decade, shortly after he announced he wouldn’t be seeking reelection.

The special election to fill Connolly’s seat will be held on Sept. 9. Walkinshaw will be heavily favored as Democratic Kamala Harris won the district by 34 points in the 2024. Connolly comfortably held the seat since his first election in 2008.

Walkinshaw has served on the board of supervisors since January 2020, where he also chairs the board’s legislative committee.

In his endorsement, Connelly had called appointing Walkinshaw chief of staff was “one of the best decisions I ever made.”

“We need a strong representative, experienced in addressing national issues that affect our community, who can stand up to Trump and lead from day one. I believe James Walkinshaw is that leader,” Connolly wrote.

Whitson is an Army veteran and former FBI agent who works in federal affairs at a conservative think tank.

Walkinshaw and a collection of allied outside groups dominated spending on advertisements for the primary, helping him stand out in the crowded field. Pro-Walkinshaw advertisers accounted for more than half of the total ad spending for the race, about $2 million, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

Just one of those groups, a liberal super PAC called “Protect Progress,” spent nearly $1 million on ads boosting Walkinshaw’s campaign and touting his connections to Connolly.

The-CNN-Wire

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CNN —

A Ukrainian pilot was killed and his F-16 fighter jet crashed after Russia launched a huge aerial assault involving hundreds of drones and scores of missiles overnight, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday.

The airman, named as 1st Class Lt. Col. Maksym Ustymenko by the Ukrainian air force, was the third F-16 pilot killed since the Ukrainians began flying the jets last summer, and his plane was the fourth F-16 Ukraine has lost since then.

The air force said Ustymenko “did everything he could to steer the aircraft away from a populated area, but he did not have time to eject.”

Ustymenko’s death is a major loss for Ukraine. Only a small number of the country’s top pilots have been trained to fly F-16s, the most advanced of Ukraine’s fighter jets. The training is highly specialized and takes months to complete.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ustymenko destroyed seven targets before being killed, praising him and the Ukrainian air force for “heroically protecting” the country’s skies.

Zelensky said Moscow launched 477 drones and 60 missiles towards six different locations overnight into Sunday – one of Russia’s largest ever aerial assaults in terms of weapons deployed, according to a CNN tally.

This residential building in Odesa was hit by a Russian drone on June 28, 2025. Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP/Getty Images

Deadly aerial attacks

Russia has ramped up its airborne attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, launching hundreds of drones and missiles nearly every night.

These assaults are not just bigger and more frequent; they are also more concentrated and executed in a way that makes them a lot more difficult to combat – as they are flown at higher altitudes, out of reach of machine guns.

Zelensky said on Sunday that more than 114 missiles, over 1,270 drones, and nearly 1,100 glide bombs were launched by Russia against Ukraine just this week.

The Ukrainian leader pleaded with Kyiv’s Western allies to provide more aerial defenses for his country, saying Russia will continue to attack Ukraine for as long as it can.

“This war must be brought to an end — pressure on the aggressor is needed, and so is protection. Protection from ballistic and other missiles, from drones, and from terror,” Zelensky said.

He added that Ukraine was ready to buy “American systems” to strengthen its air defenses – a clear call to US President Donald Trump and his administration to allow Ukraine to purchase the Patriot air defense systems.

The Patriots are widely considered to be among the best air defense systems. While there are other systems manufactured by some of Ukraine’s other allies, none can match the Patriots when it comes to protection against advanced hypersonic and ballistic missiles.

Ukraine is known to have roughly half a dozen of the US-made Patriot air defense systems, although the exact numbers and their locations are closely guarded secrets.

The Patriots play a crucial role in Ukraine’s air defense, protecting millions of civilians from Russian missiles. But Kyiv is at risk of running out of missiles for these systems, as Trump continues to threaten withdrawing US aid from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian air force said Sunday it had downed 211 drones and 38 missiles launched by Moscow overnight. Russian strikes were recorded in six locations with debris reported across eight locations, it added.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the strikes targeted Ukraine’s “military-industrial complex facilities and oil refineries,” but the Ukrainians said civilian infrastructure objects were hit.

At least 11 people were injured, including two children, in a Russian attack in the city of Smila, in the central region of Cherkasy, local officials said in an update on Sunday.

Three nine-story buildings, private houses, and cars were significantly damaged in the shelling, as well as four educational institutions and a psychiatric hospital, Ihor Taburets, head of Cherkasy regional military administration, said.

Landmines question

Also on Sunday, Zelensky announced he signed a decree that would take Ukraine out of the Ottawa Treaty, the international agreement that bans the use of anti-personnel landmines.

A long-signalled move by Ukraine, the withdrawal still needs to be approved by Ukraine’s parliament. Kyiv has long argued that it cannot continue to be member of the treaty because its attacker – Russia – is using landmines in its own teritory.

“This is a step that has long been demanded by the reality of war. Russia is not a party to this Convention and uses mines against our military and civilians on a massive scale. We cannot remain bound by conditions when the enemy has no restrictions,” Roman Kostenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, said in a statement.

According to the United Nations, Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world. Russia has been using mines extensively in Ukraine’s territory, but according a 2023 report from Human Rights Watch found that Ukraine has also used antipersonnel landmines. The US under the Biden Administration approved shipments of landmines to Ukraine last November.

Large swathes of Ukrainian land, especially along the frontlines in the east and in areas that were once occupied by Russia, are off limits to civilians because of the mines. Makeshift signs and barriers warning people not to enter are a common sight on the edges of fields and forests and near roads.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country “has made a difficult but necessary political decision” to withdraw from the Ottawa convention, saying the government was “convinced” it was necessary to do so.

At the start of this year, the pact had 165 member states – although several major powers, including Russia, China, India, Pakistan and the United States, have never signed up to it.

Finland, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania – which all border Russia – have also made moves to pull out of the treaty arguing they were essential for defense.

537 aerial weapons were launched at Ukraine overnight (Picture: AFP)

Russia launched its biggest aerial attack on Ukraine overnight, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has dashed hopes for a ceasefire.

One of the F-16 warplanes Ukraine received from its western partners to help fight Russia’s invasion crashed after sustaining damage while shooting down air targets, killing the pilot.

Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said.

Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, having likely been electronically jammed.

Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for Ukraine’s air force, said the onslaught was ‘the most massive air strike’ on the country, taking into account both drones and various types of missiles.

The attack targeted regions across Ukraine, including western Ukraine, far from the frontline, and prompted NATO countries, including Poland, to scramble aircraft.

Buildings have been destroyed as Russia continues to wage its war (Picture: AFP)

Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said one person died in a drone strike, and another was killed when a drone hit a car in the Kharkiv region, according to its governor, Oleh Syniehubov.

Six people were wounded in Cherkasy, including a child, according to regional governor Ihor Taburets.

In the Lviv region in the far west of Ukraine, a fire broke out at an industrial facility in the city of Drohobych after a drone attack, which also forced parts of the city to lose power.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said days ago that Moscow was ready for a fresh round of direct peace talks in Istanbul, but the war shows no signs of abating.

US-led international peace efforts have so far produced no breakthrough.

Two recent rounds of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and yielded no progress on reaching a settlement.

Last night, German fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian spy plane spotted over the Baltic Sea – the ninth time Germany has done so this year.

Residents have been forced to evacuate their homes – yet again (Picture: AFP)

Days ago, it was revealed that Putin lost four warplanes worth £37 million each despite stepping up their defences after Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb.

A pair of Su-34 fighters were destroyed and two more damaged after an attack on on Marinovka military airfield in Volgograd.

Ukraine used long-range drones to fly more than 200 miles to inflict the latest £148 million blow to Putin’s aerial firepower.

It came less than a month after Russia supposedly tightened its military air base security after 40-plus strategic bombers and spy planes were hit in Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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