Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the head of the country’s air force, just days after the service confirmed its first loss of a Western-supplied Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter.
“I have decided to replace the commander of the air forces of the armed forces of Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a 30 August post to the social media site Telegram.
The comedian-turned-wartime leader went on to express gratitude for all members of the country’s military forces, including the “command level”, although he mentioned no individuals by name.
Zelensky’s post does not say why he sacked Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuck, who is an air defence officer by training.
However, the loss of an F-16 – along with one of the country’s most experienced and best-known fighter pilots – just one month after the type entered service with the Ukrainian air force (UAF) came as a blow to Kyiv, which has been desperately seeking to bolster its forces with military aid from Western supporters. Kyiv has also been eager to improve the morale of its own war-weary populace.
Convincing individual members of the NATO alliance – in particular the USA – to supply Ukraine with Western tactical aircraft has been a multi-year personal mission for Zelensky, which finally came to fruition at the beginning of August when the first F-16s and hastily trained UAF pilots arrived for combat duty.
Some Western leaders, particularly within the administration of US president Joe Biden, had long expressed scepticism that Ukraine was capable of operating and maintaining the complex fighter aircraft. As recently as last summer, top officer at the Pentagon said conditions in Ukraine were “not ideal” for the country to effectively employ the American-made jets.
Washington eventually changed course and spent the past year helping train UAF pilots to fly F-16s.
Kyiv confirmed that the F-16 went down on 26 August during a mission to defend Ukraine against a massive aerial bombardment by Russian missiles and drones.
“During the approach to the next target, contact was lost with one of the planes,” the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said on 29 August. “The plane crashed [and] the pilot died.”
Although the cause of the F-16 loss remains unclear, unverified rumours are swirling in local and Western media that the crash may have resulted from a friendly fire incident. The Ukrainian service of US-government-funded Voice of America, for instance, reported that friendly fire by Ukrainian air defence forces is a probable cause.
Kyiv has launched an investigation into the incident.
Nearly 100 used F-16s have been pledged to Ukraine by NATO member states, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium. Now, Ukraine must ensure it has enough pilots trained to fly the jets.
Zelensky and the UAF say they will attempt to recruit former NATO fighter pilots who are qualified on the single-engined type as means of supplementing their own aviators.
