Ukrainian Capt. Andriy Pilshchykov, one of three pilots killed during combat training west of Kyiv on Friday, had lobbied U.S. lawmakers to get F-16 fighter jets to his country in the battle against Russian aggression.
Pilshchykov, who went by the handle "Juice," was 30 years old. He was killed when two L-39 training aircraft, one of which he was in, collided over the western Zhytomyr region.
Pilshchykov first earned renown for dogfights, piloting his MiG-29 against enemy fighter jets in the initial months of Russia's invasion. He was part of a unit that called itself the "Ghost of Kyiv."
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday paid tribute to the pilots and called out Pilshchykov as "one of those who helped our country a lot."
"Ukraine will never forget anyone who defended Ukraine's free sky. May they always be remembered," Zelenskyy said, adding that "the investigation is ongoing, and the truth will be revealed" about what caused the collision.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat wrote that Pilshchykov was a "main driver of an advocacy group promoting many decisions on the F-16s" and "in constant contact with Californian pilots."
Pilshchykov was one of two Ukrainian pilots chosen to travel to Washington, D.C., last summer to lobby members of Congress to get the F-16s, something President Joe Biden signed off on in May. Pilshchykov also did multiple interviews with media outlets, including CNN, to take the Ukrainian message to Americans.
"All of us are ready to fight, just with our jets, with our guns, even just in the fields with rifles," he told CNN in March 2022. "So our people, including me, we are ready to fight Russians. And we are ready to defend our country, to defend our people in absolutely any ways. But we need tools, effective tools, to do this efficiently."
Pilshchykov reportedly was given the nickname "Juice" by U.S. pilots during joint training because he didn't drink alcohol.
Ukraine is set to receive more than 60 F-16s through a third-party transfer with Denmark and the Netherlands. Once pilot training is complete, Ukraine expects to have those F-16s in the air in a few months, according to Inhat.
"I believe that in four to six months we can learn to fly it. It's realistic," Pilshchykov had told CNN. "Our transition training will be pretty freakin' easy."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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