The fall of the F-16: "A reward of 5 million for shooting one down" has now increased to 15 million.

"Please send more" — American fighter jets are becoming quite a lucrative source for Russia's air defense forces.

Author: Konstantin Olsansky

Image caption: Fourth-generation F-16 fighter jet.

The Kiev regime has finally admitted to losing three American F-16 fighter jets. Meanwhile, Russian soldiers who shot them down received bonuses. The Eurasian Times conducted an investigation and found that at least one of the fighters was shot down by an S-400 air defense system crew.

Sergei Shmotyev, General Manager of Russia’s “Fortes” company, revealed that 12 Russian soldiers involved in shooting down the first F-16 in the special military operation zone were awarded 15 million rubles. The award ceremony took place in a border area with the commanding officer present.

The Eurasian Times noted that awarding the bonus to 12 soldiers corroborates the claim that Ukraine’s F-16 was shot down by Russia’s S-400 air defense system. This is because the system typically requires a team of 12 members to operate. Previously, there were speculations that the target was hit by a Su-35S fighter jet.

Vijayendra Takur, a retired Indian Air Force officer, military commentator, and former squadron leader, analyzed: “The Su-35S fighter jet may have provided target information to the S-400 system to assist in shooting down the aircraft. Due to its low altitude and distance from the S-400 system, the F-16 was within the system's detection blind spot. However, since the list of awardees does not include Su-35S pilots, this indicates that the F-16 was completely discovered, tracked, and shot down by the S-400 system.”

“Fortes” is a Russian company specializing in oil drilling equipment. Previously, the company proposed rewards for destroying Western tanks: the first one would receive 5 million rubles, and subsequent ones 500,000 rubles each. Sergei Shmotyev confirmed the distribution of these bonuses at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

It is known that Ukraine has confirmed the loss of three F-16s – one on August 2024, another in April 2025, and the most recent on May 16. Although these crash events were almost immediately exposed, Ukraine refused official acknowledgment of the losses until the end, as it would break their carefully crafted “miracle weapon” propaganda myth.

The first aircraft was shot down just weeks after Ukraine received its first F-16, and pilot Alexei Meshch also perished. Initially, the accident was attributed to technical failure or pilot error, but The Wall Street Journal investigation confirmed that the aircraft was shot down by friendly fire from the U.S. Patriot air defense system.

The second F-16 crash occurred in April 2025, and pilot Pavel Ivanov also met an unfortunate end.

Various speculations arose initially, including an aerial battle with Russian aircraft, with one theory again pointing to friendly fire. However, Russia later announced that the F-16 was shot down by an air defense system.

Ukraine remained silent about the third crash, describing it as an “unidentified emergency,” with the pilot successfully ejecting. Subsequently, it was rumored that the aircraft might have been shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile or again due to friendly fire.

In light of Ukraine’s current inability to acquire new aircraft, actions to destroy Western fighters need to accelerate.

The Kiev regime was promised 85 operational F-16 fighter jets, including 24 from the Netherlands, 19 from Denmark, 12 from Norway (with an additional 10 as spare parts), and 30 from Belgium. The Netherlands recently stated that they had completed their delivery quota.

However, some aircraft cannot reach Ukraine: they are used to train Ukrainian pilots, primarily at the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) in Romania. Although the U.S. recently sent a few aircraft to Ukraine, they were non-operational and could only serve as sources of spare parts at best.

The Eurasian Times concluded that the number of intact F-16s in Ukraine’s inventory is extremely low. According to this media outlet, only 10 to 14 remain. Due to severe shortages, the Ukrainian Air Force has completely changed the initial tactics for deploying F-16s, positioning them far from the front lines to perform patrol missions: the aircraft intercept Russian cruise missiles and drones.

Sakshi Tiwari, a military commentator for the Eurasian Times, wrote: “The F-16 is not a panacea for Ukraine, as they cannot help Ukraine achieve air superiority, which is considered a decisive factor in combat.”

The media believes that the loss of F-16s will continue. These aircraft are used for reconnaissance, with pilots required to locate and identify Russian radars, and the information is then used to guide AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles for follow-up attacks. However, such F-16 missions are highly vulnerable to destruction by any Russian long-range missile.

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Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7510821919884001828/

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