It was dry and laconic: “I decided to replace the commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky opted for brevity when announcing the dismissal of Mykola Oleshchuk during his traditional video address on Friday 30 August, following the publication of a decree to this effect on the presidential website.
Although no official reason has been given for this decision, it comes one day after the announcement of the crash of an F-16 aircraft, a precious military equipment supplied by the West and tirelessly demanded by Ukraine for two years. kyiv finally announced, at the beginning of August, that it had received its first models.
According to the Ukrainian military, this accident, which killed US-trained pilot Oleksiï Mes, occurred during a massive Russian missile and drone attack on Monday. Ukrainian authorities have provided few details about this episode. According to the General Staff, F-16s were able to shoot down four Russian cruise missiles during this attack, but “During the approach to the next target, communication with one of the aircraft was lost”.
“Culture of lies”
Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezougla, a member of the parliament’s defence committee, has an embarrassing version. She claims that the F-16 was shot down by mistake by the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system. “due to poor coordination between units”. In a message on Telegram, he criticized, on Thursday, “the culture of lies” within the Ukrainian military command and does so “that none of the generals were punished” and so? “General Oleshchouk remains in office”.
On Friday he added that it was “at least the third time” that a Ukrainian plane was mistakenly shot down by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses. “The two previous incidents, which did not involve F-16s, were officially attributed to the Russians”accused.
Mykola Olechchuk had promised on Facebook, the Friday before his dismissal, “discover the causes of the air disaster” with the F-16, ensuring “don’t hide anything”. He accused Mariana Bezougla of wanting “discrediting senior military officials” and the United States, designers of the F-16 and Patriot systems supplied to kyiv.
