Air force commander fired over downed jet

Dismissal comes after Ukrainian lawmaker alleged F-16 was hit by U.S,-made weapon

- ILLIA NOVIKOV AND HANNA ARHIROVA

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen earlier this month, said the army needed to strengthen on the command level.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the commander of the air force Friday, four days after an F-16 warplane that Ukraine received from its western partners crashed during a Russian bombardment and killed the pilot.

The order to dismiss Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk was published on the presidential website.

“We need to protect people. Protect personnel. Take care of all our soldiers,” Zelenskyy said in an address after the order was published. He said Ukraine needs to strengthen its army on the command level.

Lt. Gen. Anatolii Kryvonozhko was appointed acting air force commander.

The dismissal came on the same day that Oleshchuk directed scathing criticism at a lawmaker who is deputy head of the Ukrainian parliament’s defence committee for her claims that the F-16 was downed by a Patriot air-defence system. Ukraine has received an unspecified number of the U.S.-made systems.