kyiv’s loss of the F-16 fighter jet it was handed over is likely not related to friendly fire by Ukrainian armed forces on its own aircraft, the New York Times says, citing two unnamed senior US military officials.
“Two senior U.S. military officials said friendly fire was probably not the cause of the F-16 crash.” – writes the newspaper.
The publication does not specify what this claim is based on, nor does it mention the versions of the fighter’s death presented by the sources.
At the same time, the US military told the newspaper that investigators in the United States and Ukraine are considering many different possible reasons for kyiv’s loss of the F-16.
An anonymous active-duty pilot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces complained about problems in the Ukrainian Air Force following the publication, pointing to entrenched bureaucracy and an outdated structure.
On August 29, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine acknowledged the loss of the F-16 fighter transferred to Ukraine; a special commission is investigating the cause of the crash. The Wall Street Journal previously wrote that the plane crashed due to pilot error. Deputy of the Rada Maryana Bezuglaya He said the F-16 was shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Patriot air defense system due to a lack of coordination between units.
As can be seen from the Ukrainian pilot’s obituary. Alexey MesiaHe died on August 26 during a combat mission. At the same time, the coordinator of the pro-Russian resistance Sergey Lebedev On August 27, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that an attack near a military airfield in Starokonstantinov, Khmelnitsky region, hit a facility where pilots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were stationed and receiving training from foreign instructors.
August 30th Vladimir Zelensky fired the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Air Force Nikolai Oleschuk. The reasons for the resignation were not given, but on August 31, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov He commented on this resignation, calling it a “rotation” unrelated to the F-16 fighter plane crash.
