Kiev, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the chief of the country’s air force Friday, four days after an F-16 warplane that Ukraine got from its Western partners crashed amid a Russian assault, killing the pilot.

The order to remove Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk was posted on the presidential website. “We must defend individuals. Protect the personnel. “Take care of all our soldiers,” Zelenskyy urged in a speech shortly after the order was issued. He stated that Ukraine’s army has to be stre

The expulsion occurred on the same day that Oleshchuk slammed a politician who is the deputy leader of the Ukrainian parliament’s defense committee for claiming that the F-16 was brought down by a Patriot air-defense system. Ukraine has acquired an undefined number of US-made systems. Mariana Bezuhla supported her accusation with anonymous sources and requested retribution for those responsible for the blunder. Oleshchuk accused Bezuhla of defaming the air force and disparaging American arms producers, and he expressed hope that she would suffer legal consequences for her allegations. “The truth will win,” Bezuhla wrote on X immediately after the dismissing ruling was released.

The Air Force did not explicitly dispute that the F-16 was hit by a Patriot missile. The air force announced that US experts had joined the Ukrainian probe into the disaster. Meanwhile, a Russian strike on the northeastern city of Kharkiv with powerful plane-launched glide bombs killed six people, including a 14-year-old girl on a playground, and injured 47 others, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehub. According to the governor, the bombs struck five spots throughout the city, which had a prewar population of approximately 1.4 million people.

According to the governor, bombs exploded at five spots throughout the city, which had a prewar population of approximately 1.4 million people. One of the bombs exploded in a 12-story apartment building, lighting it on fire and trapping at least one person on the higher floors. Emergency crews hunting for survivors were concerned that the building would collapse. Zelenskyy cited the Kharkiv strikes as another proof that Western allies should lift restrictions on what the Ukrainian military might target with supplied weaponry. The Kharkiv strike “would not have occurred if our defense forces had the ability to destroy Russian military aviation at its bases.” We require firm decisions from our partners to stop this terrorist.

se umbrella or in an air-to-ground support role.” In other news, European Union defense ministers agreed in Brussels to expand the training program for Ukrainian troops. “Today the m

The crash was the first recorded loss of an F-16 in Ukraine, where the fighters arrived late last month. At least six are thought to have been supplied by European governments. Military observers believe the jets will not be a game changer in the battle, given Russia’s vast air force and powerful air defense systems. However, Ukrainian officials welcomed the supersonic jets, which can carry sophisticated NATO armaments, as they provided an opportunity to counter Russia’s air superiority. On the ground, the Russian army is making sluggish but steady progress into eastern Ukraine, while Ukrainian soldiers are standing firm in the Kursk border region of western Russia following a recent invasion.

The Institute for the Study of War predicted that Ukraine will lose some Western-provided military equipment during the fighting. However, the Washington-based think tank stated that “any loss amon

According to Borrell, the course has to be condensed and modified to meet the demands of Ukrainian learners. In order to improve the effectiveness of the training program, he continued, the EU would establish a tiny “coordination and liaison cell” in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. 60,000 soldiers have gone through the bloc’s outside-of-Ukraine training program thus far.