Zelenskyy pays tribute as Ukrainian pilot ‘Juice,’ 2 others killed in air ‘catastrophe’

Pilschikov was a high-profile proponent of increased American assistance to Ukraine to help modernize the country’s air forces, which he had depicted as a weakness against the Russians.

“They have almost full air superiority, because we have limited number of air defenses, limited number of aircraft,” Pilschikov told CNN’s Anderson Cooper last year. “All our systems are pretty old.”

The U.S. is preparing to train Ukrainian pilots in Arizona to fly and maintain F-16 warplanes, which Ukrainian leaders have asked for to improve its air efforts against the Russians. President Joe Biden committed to assisting Ukraine with the jets in May, on the condition they are used to defend the country’s own territory.

Pilschikov was set to be among one of the first classes of pilots to start F-16 training.

“Ukraine will never forget anyone who defended Ukraine’s free sky,” Zelenskyy further said of the pilots in a video posted on X.