After fighter jet crash

Selensky now dismisses head of the air force

The F-16 fighter jet

(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has dismissed air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk. No official reason was given, but there is a connection with the loss of a western F-16 fighter jet and its pilot.

On Thursday, the General Staff confirmed that one of the few F-16 aircraft had been lost in action against a massive Russian air attack on Monday. "I have decided to dismiss the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force," Zelensky announced in his evening video address on Friday. He thanked all members of the air force who really achieved results for Ukraine. "This also applies to the command level. We must become stronger. And preserve our people."

On Friday, Oleshchuk criticized a member of parliament on Telegram who cast doubt on the official version of the crash. She was promoting Russian propaganda, he wrote, and threatened to take her to court. The loss of the plane would be investigated, also in cooperation with the manufacturer, the USA. The lieutenant general had led the Ukrainian air force since 2021. No details of his successor have yet been released.

Serious setback for Ukraine
Several F-16 fighter jets were delivered to Kiev by Western allies just a few weeks ago. The incident is a serious setback for Ukraine. The government in Kiev has long had to make do with a fleet of outdated MIG-29 and Sukhoi fighter jets from the Soviet era to fend off massive Russian air attacks and has long demanded that the West deliver ultra-modern F-16 fighter jets more quickly.

Eight dead in Russian airstrikes in Kharkiv and Sumy
Meanwhile, at least eight people were killed in Russian airstrikes on Friday, according to local reports. The Kharkiv region in the east of the country reported four fatalities, including a 14-year-old girl. Two people died in the neighboring Sumy region.

According to official reports, guided aerial bombs hit a twelve-storey residential building in Kharkiv, which partially collapsed. According to military governor Oleh Synjehubov, 59 people were injured, including nine children aged between five and 16. The governor shared a video on online networks showing burnt-out cars in front of residential buildings from which thick black smoke was billowing.

 Presidential advisor Mychailo Podoljak spoke of a "deliberate attack on the center of Kharkiv, on a multi-storey building". The attack was carried out with a guided bomb, a particularly destructive weapon. According to the Ukrainian public prosecutor's office, the attack was carried out by a Su-34 aircraft that had taken off from the Russian border region of Belgorod.

Prosecutor: "Methods of war prohibited under international law"
 Eight people are said to have been injured in Sumy. According to the authorities, several of them were children. The local public prosecutor's office spoke of "methods of warfare prohibited under international law". Around 21,000 people have been evacuated from the Sumy region since August 9 due to the Russian airstrikes. People were called on Friday to stay in their homes and close their windows.

Sumy borders the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine launched a military offensive in August. One aim of the offensive was to create a buffer zone on Russian territory in order to protect its own population from attacks. Moscow responded with air strikes.

"A strike that would not have happened if our defense forces had the opportunity to destroy Russian military aircraft where they are stationed," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a message on Telegram after the attacks on Kharkiv. In view of the destruction, he once again called for the release of long-range Western weapons against targets in Russia.