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just one day after the ukrainian military confirmed the loss of its first f-16 fighter jet, ukrainian air force commander mykola oleschuk was dismissed. according to cnn on august 31, ukrainian defense minister umerov emphasized in an interview that the dismissal of the air force commander had nothing to do with the f-16 crash.

in an interview with cnn, umerov explained: "i would probably say it was a rotation... these are two separate issues and at this stage i would not link them." he added that the death of the f-16 pilot was "regrettable" and that ukraine was investigating the matter.

umerov mentioned that in a meeting with us defense secretary austin on august 30, he again asked the united states to lift restrictions on ukraine's use of long-range weapons to attack deep into russian territory, and the biden administration is still considering his request.

"we have explained what capabilities are needed to protect citizens from russian attacks, so i hope our voice will be heard," umerov said.

asked whether ukraine intended to exchange russian territory it occupied in kursk for territory russia occupied in ukraine, umerov said ukraine was more concerned about the "capabilities" that territory gave them.

"we are committed to increasing our resistance capabilities and pushing back russia from the temporarily occupied territories," umerov said.

on the evening of august 29th local time, the general staff of the ukrainian armed forces issued an announcement confirming that an f-16 fighter jet crashed on august 26. the pilot oleksei metz who was flying the f-16 was killed in the accident. this was the first time that the ukrainian air force had lost an f-16 fighter jet.

the announcement stated that the ukrainian armed forces' f-16s cooperated with the air defense missile forces to repel "russia's missile attack on ukraine". the f-16s demonstrated their efficient combat capabilities and "shot down four enemy cruise missiles" with their onboard weapons. however, when the fighter jets flew to the next interception target, the (command) lost communication with one of the aircraft. it was later confirmed that the plane crashed and the pilot was killed. in order to find out the cause of the accident, the ukrainian ministry of defense has appointed a special committee to go to the crash site to investigate.

the day after the ukrainian military issued the announcement, ukrainian president zelensky signed a presidential decree to remove mykola oleschuk from his post as commander of the ukrainian air force. in a speech that evening, zelensky said that the command level of the ukrainian air force needed to be "strengthened", but did not disclose whether the decision to dismiss the air force commander was related to the f-16 crash.

the associated press (ap) reported that on the same day he was fired, olshuk had an argument with ukrainian lawmakers over the loss of the f-16.

mariana bezuglaya, deputy director of the national security and defense committee of the verkhovna rada of ukraine, said on the 29th that the f-16 was shot down by the ukrainian patriot air defense missile system, indicating a lack of coordination between various departments of the ukrainian army.

she said that war is war after all, and there is always the possibility of similar incidents. she also criticized the prevalence of "culture of lies" in various high-level command posts, including the air force command of the ukrainian armed forces, which has led to the continuous deterioration and collapse of the entire ukrainian military decision-making and management system.

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