Zelensky removes Ukraine air force chief following F-16 crash

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.

“During the approach to the next target, communication with one of the planes was lost. As it turned out later, the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot,” it added.

Zelensky says Ukraine used F-16s against Russian air attacks

It did not identify the pilot, but a unit of Ukraine’s air force said one of its pilots, Oleksiy Mes, had died in a crash on Monday while repelling a Russian air attack.

“On 26 August, while repelling a Russian massive combined missile and air strike, Oleksiy destroyed three cruise missiles and one attack drone,” Ukraine’s Western air command unit said.

“Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles. Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life,” it said.

The announcements come as a blow to Ukraine, which had long relied on a fleet of ageing Soviet-era MIG-29 and Sukhoi jets and had asked for the F-16s to defend against intense Russian aerial bombardment.

Moscow fired a wave of attack drones and missiles at Ukraine on Monday this week in what President Volodymyr Zelensky called one of the “largest” attacks of Russia’s two-and-a-half year invasion.