KYIV — Ukraine announced on Thursday the crash of an F-16 fighter jet recently delivered as part of a batch from Western countries.

“On approach to a target, communication was lost with one of the F-16s. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, and the pilot died,” Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement.

A special commission has been formed to investigate the incident, and is currently working at the crash site, the statement added.

Earlier reports suggested that the crash was caused by a pilot error.

This comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Tuesday that the country’s army used F-16 fighter jets for the first time on Monday to repel a Russian strike. — Agencies