According to Colonel Yurii Ihnat, the dramatic confrontation unfolded during Russia’s massive December 13 missile assault, which unleashed over 90 missiles and nearly 200 drones on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. 

Posting on Facebook, Ihnat said the incident had been confirmed by “objective inspection” and that no other F-16 pilot has achieved such a task during a combat mission. 

He added: “The Ukrainian pilot had only four air-to-air missiles under his wings: medium- and short-range.  

“The long-range missiles were used first, and then the pilot had to approach a distance of about two miles to use the short-range missiles.” 

The pilot, who has not been named, said: “I understood that the chances of hitting a missile flying at a speed of more than 650 km/h were slim.  

“First, I had to find it in the sky, level the altitude and shoot from a distance of no more than 500 meters.  

“Going closer is extremely dangerous—if a 450-kilogram warhead explodes, there is a high risk that the aircraft will fly into a cloud of debris.” 

Despite having trained for this scenario only on simulators, the pilot fired a few precise cannon rounds, obliterating the target. By the mission's end, he had downed six cruise missiles, two of them with the cannon—a feat he dedicated to fallen comrades. 

Ukraine’s F-16s, first delivered on July 31, 2024, have become critical to the nation's air defense.  

The coalition of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium has pledged to provide 60 aircraft, with Kyiv recently receiving its second batch of fighters from Denmark on December 7.