French Fighter Jet Mirage Crashes in Ukraine

Ukraine lost its first French-supplied Mirage 2000 fighter jet during a mission on Tuesday, with the pilot ejecting safely, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. France began delivering the supersonic aircraft to Ukraine earlier this year to help Kyiv defend its airspace against Russia.

"Unfortunately, we lost our combat aircraft. A French aircraft, very effective, one of our Mirage jets," Zelensky said in an address early Wednesday morning."The pilot managed to escape and it was not shot down by the Russians," he added.

The Ukrainian air force said the incident took place during a flight mission on Tuesday evening and that there were "no casualties on the ground".

"The pilot reported a failure of aviation equipment to the flight director. He then acted competently, as is expected in a crisis situation, and successfully ejected," the air force said.

The incident marks another blow for the Ukrainian military, which is suffering a shortage of air defences to counter Russian attacks. Ukrainian pilots and mechanics have been trained in eastern France to use the jets, which have undergone modifications to combat Russian jamming.