Russian billionaire offers $142,000 reward for shooting down Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet

According to RT, FORES company General Director, billionaire Sergei Shmotyev, has confirmed his readiness to award a reward of 15 million rubles ($142,000) for shooting down an F-16 fighter jet of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Northern Military District.

“The payment for the downed F-16 is our contribution to support those who fight heroically every day for the security of the Motherland. We are proud of the heroism of our military and will continue to provide them with full support,” said billionaire Shmotyev.

The reward for shooting down the first F-16 was announced in June on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg. At the same time, FORES also mentioned giving rewards for destroying American tanks.

“We have announced bonuses for destroying F-16 fighters if such weapons are delivered to Kiev... In addition, units that destroy tanks supplied to Ukraine by Western countries will also receive bonuses,” Shmotyev said, adding that he paid 5 million rubles for the first tank and 500,000 rubles for all subsequent tanks.

The possibility of destroying the US F-16 fighter was reported by the media on December 26. The chairman of the Committee on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects and Veterans Support of the Russian Federation Chamber of Social Work, co-chair of the Coordination Council for the Integration of New Regions, Vladimir Rogov, said that the Russian military shot down a Ukrainian F-16. According to him, the fighter's goal was a missile attack on the Zaporozhye region.

“According to preliminary data, missile launches in Russian-controlled areas were carried out by 12 enemy aircraft,” Rogov pointed out.

There is still no official conclusion from the Russian Defense Ministry about the shooting down of the US-made Ukrainian F-16 aircraft.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense refused to comment on the information that a Ukrainian Armed Forces fighter jet was shot down.

“The Department of Defense has no statement or information to provide. We will discuss with the Ukrainian side to get more details regarding this issue,” a Pentagon spokesman said in response to a request for comment on the TASS report.

In late August 2024, the first F-16 fighter jet of the Ukrainian Armed Forces crashed, killing one of the specially trained Ukrainian pilots. The Ukrainian parliament said that the US fighter jet was shot down by mistake by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.