President Zelenskyy dismisses Mykola Oleshchuk, says nation must ‘shield personnel’.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired the commander of the nation’s air drive, 4 days after an F-16 warplane that Ukraine acquired from its Western companions crashed throughout a Russian bombardment and killed the pilot.
The order to dismiss Mykola Oleshchuk was revealed on the presidential web site on Friday.
“We have to shield individuals. Defend personnel. Deal with all our troopers,” Zelenskyy stated in an deal with minutes after the order was revealed. He stated Ukraine must strengthen its military on the command stage.
Anatolii Kryvonozhko was appointed performing air drive commander, the military’s basic employees stated.
The dismissal got here on the identical day that Oleshchuk directed scathing criticism at a lawmaker who’s deputy head of the Ukrainian parliament’s defence committee for her claims that the F-16 was downed by a Patriot air-defense system. Ukraine has acquired an unspecified variety of the US-made techniques.
Mariana Bezuhla cited unnamed sources for her declare and demanded punishment for these accountable for the error.
Oleshchuk accused Bezuhla of defaming the air drive and discrediting US arms producers and stated that he hoped she would face authorized penalties for her claims.
“The reality will win,” Bezuhla posted on X shortly after the dismissal order was revealed.
The air drive didn’t immediately deny that the F-16 was hit by a Patriot missile.
US specialists have joined the Ukrainian investigation into the crash, the air drive stated.
A US defence official instructed the Reuters information company that the crash didn’t seem like the results of Russian hearth, and doable causes from pilot error to mechanical failure have been nonetheless being investigated.
F-16s are one of many weapons that may very well be used to hit Russian bases behind the entrance line.
Oleshchuk stated on Telegram that “an in depth evaluation” was already being performed into why the F-16 jet went down Monday, when Russia launched a significant missile and drone barrage at Ukraine.
“We should fastidiously perceive what occurred, what the circumstances are, and whose accountability it’s,” Oleshchuk wrote within the put up shortly earlier than his dismissal.
The crash was the primary reported lack of an F-16 in Ukraine, the place the warplanes arrived on the finish of final month. A minimum of six are believed to have been delivered by European nations.
Navy analysts have stated the planes won’t be a game-changer within the conflict, given Russia’s huge air drive and complicated air defence techniques. However Ukrainian officers welcomed the supersonic jets, which might carry fashionable weapons utilized by NATO nations, for providing a possibility to hit again at Russia’s air superiority.
