Ukraine suffered its first loss of a French fighter jet after equipment failure forced its pilot to eject
It's a blow to Ukraine's limited fleet of Western fourth-generation aircraft, which Kyiv spent years urging its allies to help build amid Russia's invasion.
Ukraine is believed to have received six Mirage 2000-5 fighters, meaning it likely has five left. Local media reported in December that Ukraine requested 12 to 20 of the single-seat French jets in total.
The Mirage downed on Tuesday was performing a flight mission, the Ukrainian air force said in a statement.
"On the evening of July 22, 2025, during the execution of a flight mission on a Mirage-2000 fighter jet, a failure of aviation equipment occurred, which the pilot reported to the flight director," the statement read.
"He then acted competently, as required in crisis situations, and successfully ejected. The search and rescue team found the pilot, his condition is stable," it added.
No casualties were reported. The air force said it would investigate the incident under a special commission.
France first delivered Ukraine's Mirages in February. It said it had also added several upgrades, including an electronic warfare system, that allow the jets to approach and strike ground targets more effectively.
Still, Kyiv has largely used its Western aircraft for safer air defense missions, destroying Russian drones and missiles within its airspace.
Kyiv is also believed to have over 50 US-made F-16 Fighting Falcons, though it's been pledged roughly 85 of the jets in total from European nations. Four of its F-16s have been reported destroyed, some in combat.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Tuesday that Russia did not shoot down the Mirage.
"Unfortunately, we lost our combat aircraft today, a French machine, a very effective one. One of our Mirage jets," Zelenskyy said. "The pilot managed to save himself, and this was not a Russian shoot-down."
The Mirage is also one of Ukraine's few platforms for firing the powerful, long-range Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles that the UK and France have given Ukraine. The F-16 is not configured to launch this munition.
Upgraded versions of the French jet, which first entered operational service in the 1980s, can cost about $43 million each.
The multirole version given to Ukraine, the Mirage 2000-5, was fully introduced into the French air force in 1997. Paris is now moving toward retiring the jet, phasing out older variants since 2022 in favor of the newer Rafale fighter.
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