A soldier at the coffin of UAF pilot Oleksiy Mes, 29 August 2024. Photo: Ukrainian Air Force
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force (UAF), Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, he announced on Friday, one day after the loss of Kyiv’s first F-16 fighter jet was announced.
The pilot flying the F-16 was killed when the plane crashed on Monday in an operation to repel a massive Russian missile attack, the UAF said.
The UAF honoured the dead pilot, Oleksiy Mes, calling him “a strong and dedicated warrior, a highly skilled pilot” and a patriot. “Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles. Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life,” the tribute read.
The AFU said the Ukrainian Defence Ministry had established a commission to investigate the causes of the crash, and named Lieutenant General Anatoliy Kryvonozhko as Oleshchuk’s temporary replacement. Oleshchuk had been in the position for three years.
