Ukraine: Zelensky dismisses air force chief after deadly F-16 crash
Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of Ukraine’s air force, has been fired by President Volodymyr Zelensky after an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a bombardment of Russian territory.
Zelensky dismissed Oleshchuk on Friday four days after the incident. Media reports said the dismissal is probably related to the F-16 crash in which the pilot, Lt. Col. Oleksiy Mes, died.
“We need to protect people. Protect personnel. Take care of all our soldiers,” Zelensky said in a public address minutes after the order was published on the presidential website.
Zelensky insisted that Kiev needed to strengthen the command level of its armed forces.
The Ukrainian Air Force has come under US experts’ scrutiny in an investigation to determine the cause of the fatal crash of the newly acquired US-made warplane donated by NATO-member European countries.
Zelensky had announced just earlier this month that Kiev’s forces had finally received the F-16 fighter jets he had begged for the former Soviet republic.
On August 4, Zelensky said the US-led Western countries had provided Kiev forces with two F-16 fighter jets.
The Ukrainian leaders spent more than two years of intense lobbying with Western countries to get the American-made jets.
“F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it,” Zelensky said in a video, claiming that the Ukrainian pilots had received enough training and “have already started using them.”
Zelensky said the West was initially opposed to supplying Kiev with the US-made F-16 fighter jets.
US-led Western countries have promised to provide Kiev with 80 F-16 jets to fight in the West’s proxy war against Russia.
Also, Zelensky seems to be seeking to make vast changes in the country’s armed forces' top tier command level.
Earlier this year, Zelensky removed the top military commander Valery Zaluzhny in what seemed to be a major shake-up of the military leadership outlining war strategy in the third year of the conflict with Russia.
Since Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022, the US-led Western countries have been flooding Kiev with all kinds of weapons and ammunition in an attempt to strengthen the Ukrainian forces against Russian troops.
Despite the West’s all-out military and intelligence support to Kiev, Russia has been able to maintain its absolute military superiority over Ukraine on all fronts.
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