Ukraine has lost the first Mirage 2000 fighter jet provided by France during a combat mission, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced, noting that the pilot survived after a successful ejection, AFP reports.

France began supplying the supersonic jets earlier this year to help protect Ukrainian airspace from Russian strikes.

“Unfortunately, we lost a combat aircraft. A French plane, very effective—one of our Mirages,” Zelensky said in an address. He emphasized that the aircraft was not shot down by Russian forces, and that the pilot managed to eject safely.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the incident occurred during a flight mission, and there were no casualties on the ground. “The pilot reported an equipment malfunction to the flight commander. He acted competently, as expected in a crisis situation, and ejected successfully,” the official statement said.

The loss comes at a time when the Ukrainian military is facing shortages in air defense systems amid ongoing Russian attacks. Ukrainian pilots and mechanics have undergone training in France, where the fighter jets were modified to withstand Russian jamming systems. |BGNES