Kiev: Two L-39 military trainer jets on Friday collided in the sky over Ukraine's northern Zhytomyr region, killing three pilots, the country's Air Force said in a statement on Saturday.
The crash took place when the two aircraft were performing a combat task, the statement said.
The regional prosecutor's office launched criminal proceedings into the crash on charges of violation of flight rules, said the Prosecutor General's Office.
"It is too early to discuss details. Certainly, all circumstances will be clarified," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy offered condolences to the pilots' families and added, "Ukraine will never forget anyone who defended the free skies of Ukraine."
“This is a painful and irreparable loss for all of us,” the Air Force said in their statement on Telegram.
An investigation into the collision is underway.
With inputs from IANS