The former head of Ukraine’s air force has commented for the first time since he was fired, days after a fighter pilot was killed in a Western-supplied F-16 jet.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky dismissed Mykola Oleshchuk on Friday, four days after the F-16 crashed on August 26 killing Lt. Col. Oleksiy Mes, who was also known by his call sign “Moonfish.” Lt. Gen. Anatoly Kryvonozhko has been appointed acting Ukrainian Air Force Commander
The order was published on the Ukrainian presidential website and while it did not give a reason for the dismissal, Zelensky said, “we need to protect people. Protect personnel. Take care of all our soldiers,” without providing further details.
In a message on Telegram, Oleshchuk did not mention the reasons for his dismissal but quoted the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, who was fired by Zelensky in February.
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“No matter how difficult it may be for us, there will definitely be no shame,” said Oleshchuk’s post, according to a translation. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian defense ministry for comment.
Even though the crash that killed Mes happened during a barrage of Russian missiles, Oleshchuk has sparred with some politicians over who was to blame.
A preliminary investigation shows “indications” friendly fire from a Patriot missile battery may have downed the jet, The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed Western official.
This was also reported by Ukrainian politician Mariana Bezuhla who is in the parliamentary defense committee and on Thursday said there is a “culture of lies” in the air force and among Ukrainian high command. Oleshchuk accused Bezuhla of discrediting Ukraine’s military leadership.
“A proper investigation into the death of Colonel Oleksiy “Moonfish” Mes’ with international involvement is critically necessary,” posted Ukrainian journalist Ilia Ponomarenko on X. “We’re waiting for proper answers on what happened and why.”
At the start of August, Ukraine said it had finally received a first batch of F-16 jets that it had long called for and which it was hoped would change the battlefield calculus for Kyiv’s forces, which have relied on Soviet-era aircraft.
Mes was among half a dozen Ukrainian pilots who were trained to use the fourth-generation aircraft at the Skrysdtrup base in Denmark. In February he told Ukrainian media that the training had been “condensed” and flying the aircraft was like going from a “Nokia straight to an iPhone, without all those steps in between.”
Numerous social media tributes have been paid to Mes and as well as losing a valued pilot, the loss of one of the fighter jets that Ukraine had waited months for has dealt a blow to Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression.
Mes made frequent media appearances and visited Washington to lobby the U.S. to send Ukraine F-16s, meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Around 65 F-16s have been pledged by NATO countries since President Joe Biden gave permission in August 2023 for the U.S.-made aircraft to be sent to Ukraine.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the Globsec conference in Prague on Saturday that F-16s sent by Copenhagen were “working in Ukraine,” the Kyiv Independent reported.