A Danish instructor, Jepp Hansen, who was training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, was killed

Question

A Danish instructor, Jepp Hansen, who was training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, was killed

2 Answers

answered Feb 10 by emarie123 Apprentice (1.6k points)
selected Feb 11 by zenyogi

Best answer

This claim is false. Jeppe Hansen, a "Danish pilot and F-16 fighter instructor," was not killed in Ukraine in a Russian missile strike and is also reported to be a figure made up by the Russian media, as the Danish Ministry of Defense has stated they do not know anyone by the name of Jepp or Jeppe Hansen. This claim began circulating around on January 18th of this year after sources began reporting that Jeppe Hansens colleague, Oscar Sorenson, supposedly made a post on X/Twitter reporting the death of Hansen. There was another account also claiming to be Oscar Sorenson stating that the information surrounding Hansens supposed death was "greatly exaggerated," so the claims that have been made on social media are unreliable and not supported by any evidence. Troels Lund Poulsen, Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark and Minister of Defense, as well as the Danish Defense Ministry itself, have released statements debunking this story and stating that no Danish soldier has been killed in Ukraine as a result of missile strikes on Kryvyi Rih.

FACT CHECK: No Evidence Russia Killed Danish F-16 Instructor | Check Your Fact

Disinfo: F-16 instructor from Denmark was killed in Ukraine by an Iskander attack

Fake: Danish F-16 Flight Instructor Dies As a Result of the Missile Strike on Kryvyi Rih | StopFake

Debunking Russian fakes. No, Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih didn’t kill NATO F-16 pilot, instructor from Denmark – Gwara Media

False

commented Feb 11 by soulfungus Journeyman (2.5k points)

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AlexisL · Answer 1 · 2025-02-18T00:29:58+0000

The claim that Jepp Hansen died as a result of a Russian missile strike in Ukraine comes from Russian sources, who would benefit from the death of F-16 fighter instructor for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Jepp Hansen was a Danish pilot teaching Ukrainian soldiers to operate donated F-16 fighters to help combat the Russian military. Since, Russia’s report of this missile attack, some news outlets have continued to report the death of Jepp Hansen. On the other hand, Denmark has denied this claim from Russia. According to buldarianmilitary.com, the Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen has denied Russian claims about the death of Hansen, or any death of a Danish soldier in Ukraine. Both sides of this claim and any report of the death of Jepp Hansen comes from someone who has a political benefit from Hansen either being dead or alive. So far, there has not been a report or sighting of Hansen from a third party that does not have any stake in his possible death. Without any hard facts about this claim, there is not a way to determine if it is false or not.

https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/iskander-missile-kills-danish-f16-pilot-ukraine

https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2025/01/20/denmark-denies-russian-claim-of-f-16-pilot-killed-in-ukraine/

https://www.stopfake.org/en/fake-danish-f-16-flight-instructor-dies-as-a-result-of-the-missile-strike-on-kryvyi-rih/