The Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov told Ci En En, quoted by BTA , that US President Joe Biden's administration is still considering Kiev's request to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range weapons to strike deep into Russian territory.
He confirmed that he presented a list of targets in meetings with senior officials in Washington.
The dismissal of Mykola Oleshchuk from the post of Air Force Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is not related to the crash of the F-16 fighter jet that happened a few days ago, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told American television.
"I'd rather say it's a rotation. These are two separate issues... At this stage I would not connect them”, he said.
Umerov called the pilot's death "unfortunate" and stated that Ukraine is trying to get to the causes of the crash.
"We are analyzing what happened. We have opened this case to our partners as well, so they are also analyzing and investigating it together with us”, said Umerov.
As UNIAN wrote, the other day it became known that during the coverage of the massive missile attack by Russia on August 26, one of the F-16 fighter jets provided to Ukraine by its Western partners crashed. The pilot died.
The media, citing their sources, began to race to indicate the possible causes of the crash, which eventually came together in a classic set: technical malfunction, pilot error and "friendly“ fire from the Ukrainian air defense. The latest version gained some "popularity", notes UNIAN. It was expressed in particular by MP Maryana Bezuglaya, who systematically criticized the military leadership for the situation at the front.
Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk emotionally commented on Bezuglaya's version on social networks, but a few hours later President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Oleschuk's dismissal from his post. He did not name the direct reason for this decision, but certain assumptions can be made from the president's words:
"Now is the time for conclusions. I decided to change the commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. (...) We must strengthen ourselves. And to take care of people. Let's take care of the personnel. "Let's take care of all our soldiers," Zelensky said.