The Pentagon believes it is unlikely that the F-16 fighter jet that recently crashed in Ukraine was shot down by friendly fire, according to two senior US military officials speaking to The New York Times.
American and Ukrainian investigators are exploring other potential causes, including technical malfunction and pilot error.
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The F-16 went down on Aug. 26 during a large-scale Russian aerial attack. The Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that American fighters were involved in repelling the strike alongside anti-aircraft missile units.
Communication with one of the aircraft was lost during the operation, and it was later confirmed that the plane had crashed, tragically killing the pilot, Oleksii Mes, under the callsign “Moonfish.”
According to CNN, Oleksii Mes and Andriy Pilshchikov, another pilot who died in a training accident in 2023, were prominent figures in Ukraine’s efforts to secure the F-16 fighter aircraft. Mes was among a select group of pilots trained to fly the F-16 in combat.
On the day of the crash, he successfully shot down three Russian cruise missiles and one attack drone and was attempting to intercept another target when ground control lost contact with his aircraft.
Earlier, an American official told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that pilot error was a possible cause of the crash. During training, Mes had praised the F-16, calling it a “Swiss army knife” capable of handling any mission.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Air Force Chief Mykola Oleshchuk Friday evening, Aug. 30, a day after Kyiv said a US-made F-16 fighter had crashed in combat, killing the pilot.
In a video message, Zelensky said he had “decided to replace the commander of the air force” to strengthen Ukraine’s military leadership.
At present, Oleshchuk’s role in Monday’s F-16 incident remains unclear. In an interview with CNN, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov clarified that Mykola Oleshchuk’s recent resignation is unrelated to the recent F-16 fighter jet crash.
“It’s a rotation,” Umerov explained.
Following the resignation decree, Oleshchuk referenced former Commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny in a statement on his Telegram channel.
“No matter how hard it is for us, we will definitely not be ashamed,” Oleshchuk wrote.
The crash of the F-16 was a high-profile setback for Kyiv, which had lobbied the West to send the advanced fighter jet for months.
It was the first reported F-16 loss, just weeks after Ukraine first took delivery of the supersonic aircraft.
WSJ first reported the loss of a Ukrainian F-16 on Thursday, citing comments from an unnamed US official, who alleged that the plane crashed due to pilot erro and was not downed by Russia.
The Ukrainian military later confirmed the loss, claiming that “communication was lost” with an F-16 aircraft when it was engaging aerial targets, and “as it turned out later, the plane had crashed, and the pilot was killed.”
Lawmaker Mariana Bezuhla, who sits on a parliamentary defense, security, and intelligence committee, claimed the F-16 was shot down by Ukraine’s own air defense systems in a case of friendly fire.
“War is war; such episodes are possible. However, the culture of deceit within the [Air Force Command], as well as in other senior military headquarters, leads to a deterioration in the military decision-making system,” Bezuhla said.
Her statement was met with outrage by some in the military, including former Air Force Spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat, who called for an official investigation into Bezuhla’s statement.
In response to those allegations, Oleshchuk accused her of trying to discredit Ukraine’s military leaders and said a full investigation into the incident was underway.
The Voice of America in Ukraine quoted an anonymous military official on Thursday that the staff leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is looking into various possibilities of the crash of a Western-donated F-16 fighter aircraft on Monday within its home territory, including the possibility of friendly fire from Ukrainian air defenses.
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