"For his courage and heroic actions in defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, I have decided to posthumously award the title of hero of Ukraine and the order of the golden star to Colonel Maxim Ustimenko," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared in a decree on 29/6.
31-year-old Ustimenko was piloting the F-16 fighter jet that crashed while countering a large-scale Russian attack on the night of 28/6 and early morning of 29/6. According to the Ukrainian air force, the fighter was damaged and lost altitude while attempting to take down the final target, after already intercepting 7 targets. Ustimenko tried to steer the aircraft away from a residential area and didn't have time to eject.
"Ustimenko was one of Ukraine's best pilots. He gave his life defending the skies and the people of Ukraine," Zelensky said. The Ukrainian leader's decree also stated that Ustimenko was posthumously promoted from the rank of lieutenant colonel to colonel.
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Pilot Maxim Ustimenko. Photo: Liga |
Pilot Maxim Ustimenko. Photo: Liga
Born in 1993, Maxim Ustimenko attended Kharkov National Air Force University in 2011. Ukrainian media reported that he made his first solo flight in a KAZ-30 aircraft in 2013. He mastered 4 types of aircraft and achieved notable accomplishments.
The pilot had a 4-year-old son. "I can't live without you. Maxim, we'll always be together," Ustimenko's wife wrote on social media. President Zelensky also ordered an investigation into the circumstances of Ustimenko's death.
Ustimenko's crashed fighter is the 4th Ukrainian F-16 lost in combat since the aircraft began participating in the war in 8/2024. The Ukrainian air force stated that Ustimenko had fired all his aircraft's weapons to counter the Russian attack involving 537 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, and hypersonic missiles.
The Ukrainian military deployed air defense, air force, and electronic warfare forces nationwide to respond and claimed to have shot down or disabled 475 targets. However, they failed to intercept several missiles during the nearly 10-hour Russian attack.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced it had conducted a large-scale coordinated attack using various long-range, high-precision weapons launched from aircraft, warships, and ground-based systems, including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and UAVs, targeting Ukrainian defense industry complexes and refineries. Ukrainian officials reported at least 6 people were injured in the attack.
"It's important to understand that fighters being shot down is normal in conflict. Losses are inevitable in high-intensity combat, and the F-16 is no exception. The important thing is that Ukraine is strengthening its forces," Colonel Yuri Ignat, press secretary of the Ukrainian air force command, said earlier in June.
Duc Trung (Ukrainska Pravda, Kyiv Independent)
