Russian soldiers handed $200,000 each for downing US-made F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine: report

New York Post

2 days ago

A dozen Russian soldiers were awarded nearly $200,000 each for helping to shoot down a US-made F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine.
The 12 servicemen were given the cash at a ceremony near the Russian-Ukrainian border after Russian oil giant, Forse, offered up the bounty last year in a bid to encourage the destruction of Western equipment, the Kremlin's state media TASS reported Friday.
'Fores has delivered on its earlier promise to transfer 15 million rubles to members of the Russian Armed Forces for downing the first F-16 in the special military operation zone,' the company boasted in a statement.
4 The 12 servicemen were given the cash at a ceremony near the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Paulo M.F. Pires – stock.adobe.com
Ukraine received its first deliveries of F-16 warplanes from the US last summer under the Biden administration but has already reported losing three of them.
The hefty rewards were doled out as Kyiv on Friday resisted pressure from Moscow and Washington to commit to attending another round of peace talks with Russia on June 2 — insisting it first needed to see the proposals Russian negotiators plan to put forward.
President Trump, for his part, has repeatedly urged Moscow and Kyiv to come up with a deal that'll end the three years of bloodshed.
'For a meeting to be meaningful, its agenda must be clear, and the negotiations must be properly prepared,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.
4 Russian soldiers, who were involved in the country's military campaign in Ukraine, march in columns during a parade on Victory Day in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025.
REUTERS
'Unfortunately, Russia is doing everything it can to ensure that the next potential meeting brings no results,' he said, citing a lack of proof from Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, said the Russian delegation would be traveling to Turkey and were ready for talks with Ukraine first thing Monday.
'At the moment, everyone is focused on the direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations. A list of conditions for a temporary truce is being developed,' Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
4 In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via a videoconference at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 30, 2025.
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It comes after Acting Deputy US Ambassador John Kelley told the United Nations Security Council a day earlier that the US-backed proposal — including a 30-day land, air, sea and critical infrastructure ceasefires — was 'Russia's best possible outcome.'
'We want to work with Russia, including on this peace initiative and an economic package. There is no military solution to this conflict,' Kelley told the Security Council. 'The deal on offer now is Russia's best possible outcome. President Putin should take the deal.'
'If Russia makes the wrong decision to continue this catastrophic war, the United States will have to consider stepping back from our negotiation efforts to end this conflict,' he added, warning that Washington could also impose further sanctions on Russia.
4 US President Donald Trump prepares to sign executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 22, 2025.
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Kelley, too, condemned Russia's recent onslaught on Ukraine — arguing the attacks didn't demonstrate 'a desire for peace.'
'We will judge Russia's seriousness towards ending the war, not only by the contents of that term sheet, but more importantly, by Russia's actions,' he said.
With Post wires