Danish instructor Jepp Hansen, who was engaged in training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, has reportedly been killed in a Russian missile strike in Ukraine, according to TASS on Saturday.

Sources from Russian law enforcement have informed the agency that Hansen lost his life during an assault on a training facility located in Krivoy Rog, in the Dnepropetrovsk Region of central Ukraine.

Earlier, the Russian newspaper Gazeta reported that Russian forces utilized an Iskander missile to target a former university building in the city, which had been repurposed by the Ukrainian military as barracks. Reports indicate that the upper section of the four-story structure was nearly entirely destroyed, while the facade suffered extensive damage.

Russian media, referencing a social media post by Hansen’s friend, noted that he possessed considerable expertise in flying F-16 jets and had trained “hundreds of Ukrainians” in their operation.

As of now, neither Denmark nor the Russian Defense Ministry has provided an official statement regarding these reports.

In the previous year, the Netherlands and Denmark supplied 20 F-16s to Ukraine and have committed to delivering additional aircraft through 2025. Norway, Belgium, and Greece have also expressed intentions to send several fighter jets to Kyiv.

Moscow has condemned the Western arms deliveries, asserting that they will merely extend the conflict without altering its outcome. It has also characterized the provision of F-16s as an escalation of hostilities.