Main Edition
US
FR
September 1, 2024 - 8:00am
On Friday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his decision to replace the commander of the country’s air forces, Lt Gen Mykola Oleshchuk. Lt Gen Anatolii Kryvonozhko has been appointed interim commander and, while Zelensky did not provide any explanation for the change, he stressed his responsibility to “take care of all our warriors”.
Unfortunately, not all of Ukraine’s warriors have been protected of late — Oleshchuk’s sacking comes after one of the country’s American-made F-16 fighter jets crashed on Monday, killing pilot Col Oleksiy Mes. It would be easy, at first glance, to blame Russia for the loss — the Ukrainian General Staff reported on Thursday that the plane came down while approaching a Russian target on a day when Moscow had launched over 200 missiles and drones. For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defence has previously proudly reported a local company offering a cash prize to the first to down an F-16.
However, it appears that someone in Ukraine may in fact be eligible to collect Moscow’s money. Hours before Oleshchuk’s dismissal, Ukrainian MP and member of the parliamentary defence and intelligence committee Mariana Bezuhla alleged that he had covered up an incident of “friendly fire” and that the jet had been downed by Ukraine’s own US-made Patriot air defence system. She further claimed this was “at least the third time when our plane with a pilot was shot down by its own air defence”, as “two previous incidents that did not involve the F-16 were officially blamed on the Russians”.
An investigation has been launched into the incident, but Bezuhla is not the only one already alleging that friendly fire may be the cause — a source in Ukraine’s Air Force told VOA that explanations under consideration include “friendly fire from our own air defence, a technical malfunction and pilot error”, while Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh admitted seeing reports that the plane had been downed by Ukraine’s own Patriot missiles.
The incident is concerning not just for Ukraine but for the Western allies supplying those F-16 jets for which Kyiv lobbied so intensively in a bid to tackle Moscow’s air superiority. Zelensky announced on 4 August that the first of 80 F-16s promised by the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway had arrived, while an American official told the Wall Street Journal that Ukraine had six F-16s and six trained Ukrainian pilots.
Yet, training has been beset by problems. In May, Kyiv’s officials complained of facilities in the US, Denmark and Romania not offering enough spots for Ukrainian pilots and a former US defence official claimed that, at the current rate of progress, Ukraine will only have a full squadron of prepared pilots at the end of 2025. F-16s differ vastly from the Soviet-era MiG-29s that Ukrainian pilots are used to and require higher levels of maintenance, yet the US government has refused to dispatch civilian contractors to Ukraine to help maintain the jets.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeAs unfortunate as it is, “friendly fire” is a part of warfare.
“In May, Kyiv’s officials complained of facilities in the US, Denmark and Romania not offering enough spots for Ukrainian pilots”
Such an odd attitude to the rest of the world. A sense of entitlement comes to mind,
That’s a fair assessment of the Ukrainian attitude, but at the same time pretty dense of the US to be supplying hugely powerful weapons of war without sufficient training and backup.
It’s tempting to think back to youngsters in the UK plus allies taking to the skies in state-of-the-art Spitfires in WW2 but the armouries and capabilities requiring extensive training are a world away.
Things just get weirder and weirder. It’s as if no one is really serious about “the war”. Excuse the inverted commas, but it’s the best way I have of making a point about the absurdity of what’s going on.
The F-16 is not “state of the art”, and has not been for years. As far as I can make out, this one and its pilot were destroyed on the ground by a missile, as a result of a carelessly published photo containing a small detail which let Russian intelligence locate the target. The Ukrainian air force commander was sacked because of this highly embarrassing breach of security. Is Zelenskyy going to appoint a new commander every time an F-16 is lost from now on?
Ukraine’s sense of entitlement is astonishing. Rushed training could well be the problem but that is likely to be the result of Zekenskyy directing that the F-16s be made operational before the pilots are fully trained.
Or maybe these are military circumstances? For some reason, this is never thought about on the site.
Indeed. It would be astonishing if there were not friendly fire incidents in a war. Always happens. Not sure why Bethany Elliott is surprised. Not that there’s any evidence or proof that the F16 crash was a friendly fire incident at this point.
Well, they’re doing the “heavy lifting” in fighting the common enemy of the free world.
ahaha, you are starting to realise, Ukrainians actually believe that they owe everyone, it’s a national trait, there are many jokes about it in Russia
if they become part of the EU, they can’t make a single decision there without paying a bribe to Ukraine.
Except it is their lives and freedom alone on the line, for the sake of what is also in our best interest.
“Our best interest”. What is that in relation to this.
It is in the best interests of the whole West for Russia to learn as durably as possible that they lost the Cold War decisively and have no business attempting to reacquire their empire of slave nations.
Yet another highly touted Wonder Weapon fails to move the needle. Meanwhile, more Ukrainian and Russian casualties and destruction and wasted resources all around. This war never should have been and needs a negotiated settlement.
It’s almost as if the neocons hate Ukrainians as much as they hate Russians
I feel I can answer for “Neocons”, as I am called one often enough on this site. I can confirm we hate Russians, and we think Ukrainians are great.
The only “great” Ukrainian is a dead one.
I myself have recently bought two Saint Javelin t-shirts. Saint Javelin is the patron saint of anti-tank weapons in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
6 F-16s – a Wonder Weapon? I had a better opinion of your mental abilities
Agreed. The thing is 1970s – tech.
Funny, it took actual wonder weapons on the last such conflict decades to move the needle — and in fact the F-16 is a non-wonder weapon from that conflict. It’s about 50 years old in design.
It’s almost like complaining about “Wonder Weapons” covers up your simple desire for the West to give up so Ukraine can be forced back into slavery to Moscow.
“Friendly fire accusation embarrasses Zelensky”
And if occurring as described, it should. He seems to have taken appropriate measured in the aftermath.