Details about the mishap are still limited, but a Su-27UB Flanker combat jet from Ukraine's Air Force has crashed in that country, killing its Ukrainian pilot, as well as reportedly a member of the U.S. Air National Guard. The jet had been flying a training sortie as part of Exercise Clear Sky 2018, which began on Oct. 8, 2018. The accident occurred at around 5:00 PM local time on Oct. 16, 2018, near the village of Ulaniv, which is situated approximately 185 miles southwest of the Ukranian capital Kiev. Ukraine's military immediately launched a search and rescue operation that unfortunately found that there were no survivors of the crash.

"We regret to inform that, according to a report by the search and rescue team, the bodies of two pilots were found," the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on social media on Oct. 16, 2018. "One is a Ukrainian air force pilot, and the second is a U.S. Air National Guard pilot." Neither the Ukrainian nor the U.S. military has identified the American aviator in question or their unit. Confusingly, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already taken down its post that stated the nationalities of the two individuals onboard the Flanker, raising the possibility that the initial report may have been in error.