F-16 disaster: Air Force chief responds to criticism from MP Bezuhla, who accused him of silence

He assured that the top management immediately received a report on the plane crash, as well as partners from the United States, who have already joined the investigation of its causes.

The investigation is already underway, during which the circumstances of the disaster and who is responsible for it will be clarified, says Oleshchuk. He also explained that this information could not immediately get into the media because "there is a war in the country."

At the same time, he called MP Mariana Bezuala, who criticized him for keeping silent about the incident, "a tool for discrediting the top military leadership" and a person "who sold her name a long time ago to achieve these nefarious goals."

"Mariana, the time will come when you will apologize to the entire army for what you have done, I hope in court!" said the commander of the Air Force, accusing Bezuhla of discrediting himself, the Air Force and "Ukraine's main ally, the United States."

According to him, the legislator has become "the main newsmaker of enemy propaganda" and is breaking "all records on Russian television."

Earlier, MP Bezuhla said that the F-16, piloted by Oleksiy Mes, was shot down by a Patriot anti-aircraft missile system "due to a lack of coordination between units." She accused the Air Force of a "culture of lies", because they allegedly said that it was a pilot error.

Later, Bezuhla also wrote that the F-16 crash was at least the third time when a Ukrainian plane with a pilot was shot down by its own air defense. She demanded that Oleschuk make a statement.

F-16 disaster in Ukraine

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the crash of the F-16 fighter, citing an unnamed American official.

Journalists wrote that preliminary data indicate that the warplane was not shot down by enemy fire, although the incident occurred during a massive Russian missile attack on August 26.

Later, the General Staff of the Armed Forces confirmed the F-16 disaster. They noted that American fighter jets demonstrated their effectiveness by shooting down four cruise missiles on August 26.

However, during the approach to the target, they lost contact with one of the planes. Later it turned out that the aircraft crashed, and the pilot died.

The name of the dead pilot was not mentioned on the website of the General Staff. However, according to the Air Force, pilot Oleksiy Mes died that day after destroying three cruise missiles and one attack drone.

The WSJ also reported the death of Mes. According to the outlet, he had the call sign Moonfish and was one of the first Ukrainian pilots to undergo F-16 training.

A special commission of the Ministry of Defense works to find out the causes of the accident.