The Ukrainian pilot killed when his F-16 fighter jet crashed on Monday was shot down by Ukraine’s own anti-aircraft missile system, a Kyiv official has claimed.

Lieutenant Colonel Oleksiy Mes was killed while defending Ukraine’s skies from Russia’s huge aerial attack at the start of the week.

Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezuhla wrote on X that the jet had been shot down by a US-supplied Patriot missile.

“War is war, such episodes are possible,” she said, adding there was a “lack of coordination between the units”.

She also accused Ukraine’s air force of having a “culture of lies”.

In response, the commander of Ukraine’s air force said Ms Bezuhla’s comments were a “tool to discredit the top military leadership”.

Posting on Telegram, Mykola Oleschuk said: “Mariana, the time will come when you will apologise to the entire army for what you have done, I hope in court!”

He added that an investigation is under way into the death of Lt Col Mes and the US is also looking into the situation.

A funeral for Lt Col Mes was held yesterday, with fighter jets conducting a fly-by.

For context: Ms Bezuhla has repeatedly made headlines with her criticisms of former and current Ukrainian military leadership.

She previously criticised Cdr Oleshchuk for a supposed lack of preparations for receiving F-16s from Western partners.

The body of a 37-year-old woman has been found after an overnight drone strike in Ukraine’s eastern Sumy region, officials have said.

The region’s prosecutor’s office said a building was hit at around 1.30am local time.

An initial nine people were wounded in the attack before a later update confirmed that a 48-year-old woman had died in hospital.

The second victim was found under rubble by search and rescue teams.

Russian forces are pushing forward on the eastern front as part of their ongoing offensive operation to seize Pokrovsk.

The key mining city is seen by Moscow as a big stepping stone in its aim of holding the entire Donbas region.

The map below shows Russia’s gains on Ukrainian territory.

On the eastern front, Ukraine still hold a significant amount of territory inside Russia’s Kursk region.

Moscow has been forced to evacuate civilians out of the area’s now held by Kyiv following its surprise invasion of the region on 6 August.

The map below shows the situation since its invasion of the border region began.

Vladimir Putin has sent a celebratory message to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and handed him Russia’s highest state award on his 70th birthday.

The Russian president said in a telegram that Mr Lukashenko was a “true patriot” and a “wise politician”, adding it was difficult to underestimate his personal contribution to Russian-Belarusian relations.

“I sincerely value our good friendly relations, which have fully stood the test of time, and, of course, I am confident that through joint efforts we will continue to do everything possible to build up fruitful Russian-Belarusian cooperation,” wrote Mr Putin.

A decree on the Kremlin website stated that Mr Lukashenko was receiving the Order of St Andrew – Russia’s highest military and civil award – “for outstanding achievements in the development of relations” between Russia and Belarus.

Others to have received the award include Chinese leader Xi Jinping and, most recently, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.

For context: Belarus is considered one of Russia’s closest allies.

The Lukashenko regime has played a key role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, allowing Moscow to stage its assault on Kyiv from Belarus.

Yesterday, Kyiv said it was keeping a close eye on its border with Belarus after a build-up of troops there in recent days.

Mr Lukashenko said yesterday that he had no intentions of sending Belarusian troops to fight on foreign soil.

The International Atomic Energy Agency chief will visit Ukraine next week to “hold high-level talks” and visit the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

The nuclear watchdog says its team stationed at the facility has “continued to hear explosions” and was forced into a bomb shelter this month after reported drone threats in the area.

The plant was hit by a drone strike in April in what the IAEA called a “serious incident that endangered nuclear safety and security”.

IAEA director Rafael Grossi has continued to warn against fighting occurring near nuclear plants.

“My message has been loud and clear throughout this tragic war: a nuclear accident must be avoided at all costs, and a nuclear power plant must never be attacked.” he said.

“The consequences could be disastrous, and no one stands to benefit from it. I remain determined to do everything in my power to protect nuclear safety and security as long as the fighting continues.”

Earlier this week, Mr Grossi visited a Russian nuclear facility in the Kursk region, where he said there was a danger or a possibility of a “nuclear accident” due to the close proximity of military activity.

An overnight attack in Ukraine’s eastern Sumy region has killed one person and injured others, officials have said.

The region’s prosecutor’s office said a building in Sumy was hit at around 1.30am local time “using methods of warfare prohibited by international law”.

It said an initial nine people were wounded by the attack, with firefighters tackling the blaze. A later update confirmed that a 48-year-old woman had died in hospital.

It comes after officials reported that least three people were injured yesterday in a “double-tap” attack in Seredyna-Buda.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shared a message of support for Ukraine’s Paralympians competing in Paris.

Ukraine won its first four medals of the Paralympic Games yesterday, with all four coming in the pool.

Anton Kohl and Iryna Poyda won silver in the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle respectively, while Anna Gontar won bronze in the 50m freestyle swimming and Oleksandr Komarov won the same in the 200m freestyle.

Posting on his Telegram channel, Ukraine’s president said: “Great start! Every victory of our athletes inspires our entire country. Keep it up!”

Hungary does not want to send more weapons to Ukraine and risk “an escalation of the war”, the country’s foreign minister says.

Peter Szijjarto attended an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers yesterday, where Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba repeated his requests to lift restrictions over Kyiv’s use of Western weapons on military targets in Russia.

His pleas were echoed by the EU’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.

“We do not want more weapons in Ukraine, we do not want more deaths, we do not want an escalation of the war,” Mr Szijjarto said in response.

“Today, we continue to stand for common sense and peace,” he added. “The dangerous run of the chief foreign affairs minister must be stopped.”

For context: Hungary has long been considered as the most Kremlin-friendly country in the EU.

Budapest has repeatedly obstructed sanctions against Russia and military aid to Kyiv.

Mr Szijjarto has also visited Russia at least six times since the outbreak of the full-scale war in February 2022.

Authorities in the Russian region of Kursk are creating groups of armed volunteers to ensure “law and order”, its governor has said.

Ukraine invaded the region on 6 August and has captured around 500 square miles of territory and 100 settlements, according to Kyiv’s military.

The new Kursk detachments will act in cooperation with the army and receiving training and weapons, acting governor Alexy Smirnov said.

Their primary task will be to ensure security in the areas of the region that have been evacuated due to advancing Ukrainian troops.

Mr Smirnov said the contracts for those that sign up will last for six months.

Ukraine says it has shot down 12 out of 18 Russian drones launched into the country during an overnight attack.

Kyiv’s air force said on Telegram that Russia also used an Iskander-M ballistic missile during the attack, fired from Crimea.

Four of the drones used by Russia were lost and fell independently.