President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of Ukraine’s air force on August 30, 2024, four days after one of the country’s first F-16 fighter jets went down and its pilot died. Lt Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, who had held the post since August 9, 2021, was dismissed by presidential order. The decision appeared on the Presidential Office website.
Zelensky gave no reason. In a Telegram post, as the BBC reported, he said he had a responsibility to “take care of all our warriors” and added that “at the command level, we must strengthen ourselves and protect our people.”
The crash behind the dismissal
The jet was lost on Monday, August 26, while defending against a heavy Russian barrage of drones and missiles. At the controls was Col Oleksiy Mes, call sign “Moonfish,” one of Ukraine’s most experienced pilots and a man trained abroad for the F-16. The air force said he had shot down three cruise missiles and a drone that day. “He fought heroically his last battle in the skies,” it said. Mes died in the crash.
The aircraft was among the first Western-built F-16s delivered to Ukraine earlier that month. Around 65 had been pledged by NATO countries since Joe Biden first authorised European allies to send them in August 2023.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry set up a special commission to find the cause. Ukraine said the loss was not the direct result of an enemy strike. An unnamed US defence official told Reuters the crash “did not appear to be the result of Russian fire,” and that pilot error and mechanical failure were among the possibilities under review. Oleshchuk said Kyiv had received a preliminary report from the United States, which had been folded into the inquiry.
A public quarrel over blame
The days before the sacking were messy. Mariana Bezuhla, a lawmaker on the parliamentary defence committee, claimed on Thursday that Ukraine’s own Patriot air defence system had shot the F-16 down.
Oleshchuk answered on Friday that an investigation was under way and that nobody was hiding anything. He accused Bezuhla of discrediting military leadership and said the time would come for an apology. By the end of that day he was out. The BBC noted that he had sparred with some politicians over who was to blame for the loss.
Who took over
Lt Gen Anatolii Kryvonozhko, commander of the “Center” Air Command, was named acting head of the air force, according to a statement from the general staff. He had previously overseen operations in the centre of the country.
Oleshchuk was not the first senior officer to go. Zelensky removed Valerii Zaluzhnyi as commander-in-chief of the armed forces in February 2024, and in June dismissed Lt Gen Yuriy Sodol after public criticism over heavy casualties and accusations of incompetence. Russia made no official comment on the F-16 loss.
Sources
- Zelensky Dismisses Ukrainian Air Force Commander Over F-16 Jet Crash
- President Zelensky sacks Ukraine air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk – BBC News
