The commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Ukraine posthumously awarded Mes the rank of colonel.
Tetiana Shevchuk, a friend, wrote: “Oleksiy was an exemplary pilot. Always an excellent student, always the first, always the best.”
Describing the circumstances of his death, Ukraine’s western air command said that Lt Col Mes had destroyed “three cruise missiles and one attack drone”.
Paying tribute, it added that he “heroically fought his last battle in the sky … unfortunately at the cost of his own life”.
The command went on to say: “Oleksiy Mes was a strong and loyal soldier, a high-class pilot, a leader on earth and in the sky, a good friend, a loving son, father, husband, and patriot of his country.”
In August 2023, Joe Biden approved sending F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine. Later that month, a coalition of 11 countries began training a handful of Ukrainian pilots, including Lt Col Mes, to fly the aircraft.
Lt Col Mes admitted that the training programme was “condensed” and said there had been difficulties in adjusting to the Western aircraft.
He told Ukrainian media that transitioning from Soviet-type jets to Western jets was like “going from using a Nokia straight to an iPhone without all those steps in between”.
Earlier this month, Mr Zelensky said that a total of 80 F-16s would be delivered over the next few years, while more pilots were being trained to fly them.
Both the head of the Dutch military and the prime minister of Denmark have said that Ukraine would be free to use the F-16s for strikes on Russia with no restrictions.
It is unlikely however that they will be flown in combat operations close to the front line because of the risk posed by Russian surface-to-air missile systems.