NATO F-16 pilot killed in Russian strike – TASS
Danish instructor Jepp Hansen, who was training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, was killed in a Russian missile strike in Ukraine, TASS claimed on Saturday.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen later dismissed the report as false. “No Danish soldiers have been killed in Ukraine,” he said in a statement on Monday.
TASS cited sources within Russian law enforcement as saying that Hansen died during an attack on a training center in the city of Krivoy Rog in Dnepropetrovsk Region in central Ukraine.
Previously, the Russian newspaper Gazeta had said that Russian forces used an Iskander missile to destroy a closed university building in the city which the Ukrainian military had converted into barracks. The upper part of the four-story building was almost completely destroyed, according to reports, while the facade of the building sustained heavy damage.
According to Russian media reports, citing a post by Hansen’s friend on social media, the Dane had significant experience in flying F-16 jets and had trained “hundreds of Ukrainians” to operate the planes.
Last year, the Netherlands and Denmark delivered 20 F-16s to Ukraine and have vowed to send more throughout 2025. Norway, Belgium and Greece have also pledged to send a number of the fighter jets to Kiev.
Moscow has denounced the Western arms shipments, warning that they will only prolong the conflict without changing the outcome. It has also said that F-16 deliveries represent an escalation of hostilities.
