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KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk from the post of the air force commander, according to a presidential decree published late on Friday.
Although the document does not cite a reason for Oleshchuk’s dismissal, the notice comes just days after Kyiv lost the first of its U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets in an aerial battle on Monday. While repelling a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the plane crashed, killing a top Ukrainian pilot.
“We have to strengthen ourselves, protect people, protect personnel, all our soldiers,” Zelenskyy said in a video statement Friday evening, on his decision to fire the air force commander.
Ukraine’s air force only confirmed the crash on Thursday, three days after the incident.
The delay has spurred questions over the circumstances that led to the jet being downed. On Friday, Ukrainian lawmaker Mariana Bezuhla accused Ukraine’s air defense of accidentally shooting down the plane and said it was the third time Ukraine has lost a jet to friendly fire.
She published no evidence for her claim.
In return, Oleshchuk accused Bezuhla of discrediting the Ukrainian air force and U.S. weapons and playing for Russian propaganda. He did not name the reason for the crash, but said that the air force would investigate.
“No one has hidden anything and is not hiding anything! All senior management immediately received a report about the disaster. Our partners from the U.S. also received a preliminary report and have already joined the ongoing investigation,” Oleshchuk said in a Facebook post on Friday.
“Information about such incidents cannot be immediately released into the public space and cannot be detailed for the media,” he added. “We are at war.”
