Did Ukraine lose an F-16 fighter jet because its pilot deserted with the aircraft? No, that's not true: Ukraine lost an F-16 fighter jet during a combat mission in May 2025 after an unspecified incident happened onboard and caused the pilot to eject from the aircraft, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Air Force. The pilot was later found alive and was evacuated by a military team, the statement said.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on May 16, 2025. The video features a news report from a Czech state television channel, accompanied by a flash headline in Czech, translated by Lead Stories staff as: "Ukraine Lost Another Fighter Jet." A text overlay in Czech reads, as translated:
Did not lose it. The soldier deserted, with a heap of money
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Jun 2 08:48:07 2025 UTC)
The above video refers to an incident that occurred on May 16, 2025, as reported by the Ukrainian (archived here) and the international press (archived here), citing Ukrainian authorities. The Ukrainian Air Force's official report explained that the aircraft crashed, and the pilot survived. There is also no evidence in publicly available sources to support the allegation that a Ukrainian pilot deserted with a fighter jet, as claimed in the TikTok.
On May 16, 2025, the Ukrainian Air Force posted on its social media channel on Telegram (archived here) indicating that contact was lost with one of its F-16 fighter jets, which was on a mission to repel an enemy attack. The post said that, according to preliminary data, after destroying three aerial targets, an "incident" happened onboard that caused the pilot to eject from the plane. The pilot was quickly located and evacuated by a Ukrainian search and rescue team, added the post.
The statement also noted that the pilot's general conditions were satisfactory, and he was in a safe location; his life and health were not at risk. A commission has been appointed to investigate the circumstances of the incident and has already begun its work, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
The event was reported by the Czech state television news channel CT24 with a headline in Czech, translated by Lead Stories staff as "Ukraine Lost Another F-16 Fighter Jet." An image from that news report was used in the TikTok video (archived here).
A Google News search for the phrase "Ukrainian pilot deserted with F-16 jet" conducted on June 3, 2025, also found no relevant information that would support the allegation in the TikTok video (archived here).
According to the Ukrainian news website The Kyiv Independent, Ukraine received F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands and Denmark in 2024. Before the incident on May 16, 2025, Ukraine had lost two of these aircraft -- one in a crash and another during a combat mission (archived here).
