Kyiv (Agencies): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed his air force chief after one of the country’s F-16 fighter jets crashed while repelling a Russian air attack, killing the pilot, Oleksiy Mes. “We need to protect people. Protect personnel. Take care of all our soldiers,” Zelensky said in an address.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday dismissed the country’s air force chief, a day after Kyiv said a US-made F-16 fighter jet had crashed in combat, killing the pilot.
In a video message Zelensky said he had “decided to replace the commander of the air force” to strengthen Ukraine’s military leadership.
His office earlier published a presidential decree to officially remove Mykola Oleshchuk from the post.
The crash of the F-16 was a high-profile setback for Kyiv, which had lobbied the West to send the advanced fighter jet for months.
It was the first reported loss, just weeks after Ukraine first started taking delivery of the supersonic aircraft.
The military had said the plane and pilot crashed during a combat mission earlier this week after having shot down incoming Russian missiles.
Lawmaker Mariana Bezugla, who sits on a parliamentary defence, security and intelligence committee, claimed the F-16 was shot down by Ukraine’s own air defence systems in a case of friendly fire.
In response to those allegations Oleshchuk earlier on Friday accused her of trying to discredit Ukraine’s military leaders, and said a full investigation into the incident was underway.
Zelensky did not provide further details on why he had decided to replace his air force commander, saying only that his command team “needed to get stronger”.
Lieutenant General Anatolii Kryvonozhko, who leads the air force’s operations in the central part of Ukraine, would temporarily assume the role of overall commander, the air force said.
Earlier in the day, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported that one of the Ukrainian F-16s was “destroyed in a crash on Monday,” one citing a US official and the other a source in Kiev. There were conflicting reports on whether pilot error was to blame.
The fallen pilot was identified as Aleksey Mes, callsign ‘Moonfish’, one of just a handful of Ukrainian pilots trained in the West to fly F-16s. His death was first revealed by an obituary posted on social media by a councilman in Mes’ home town of Lutsk.