Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk, days after an F-16 fighter jet crashed in what may have been friendly fire.

The New York Times reports that a Western official briefed on the preliminary investigation into the crash said that there were “indications” that the aircraft may have been shot down by a Ukrainian Patriot missilewithout excluding mechanical failure or pilot mishandling.

The ousting of Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleschuk, announced by the president in a post on the social media app Telegram, is the second high-profile departure of an official this year. In February, Zelensky dismissed Ukraine’s top military leader, General Valery Zaluzny, replacing him with General Oleksandr Shirsky.

Zelensky did not give a specific reason for the decision, which came a day after the Air Force announced the loss of the F-16, but said it was necessary to strengthen military leadership. “We have to get stronger,” he said. “And we have to take care of people. Take care of the staff. Take care of all our soldiers.”

The aircraft crashed on Monday while taking part in the defense operation against a major air attack by Russian forces.

The potential for friendly fire incidents becomes particularly acute during mass missile and drone strikes, military experts say.

“Keeping track of who is good and who is bad, particularly when there are missiles flying at the same time, is difficult,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. “Fraticide is a huge problem.”

The United States supplied Ukraine with Patriots, which include a powerful radar system and mobile launchers, and the Ukrainian military has used them as part of its defense against Russian airstrikes.

Ukraine took delivery of six F-16s just a few weeks ago, the first of a total of 45 promised by its allies in Europe. The loss of one in such a short time since their arrival is a major blow to Ukraine’s effort to integrate the aircraft into its war effort and convince NATO allies that it can effectively handle advanced Western weapons.

The plane’s pilot, Lt. Col. Oleksiy Mes, died in the crash. He was one of only a dozen Ukrainians who had gone through an accelerated training program before going into combat, an element of added danger, experts said.

The United States and Ukraine are already cooperating on an investigation into the matter, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov held a scheduled meeting in Washington on Friday.

The aircraft, delivered after months of lobbying by Zelensky and other senior officials, are the most popular military equipment delivered by the allies to Ukraine during the war.

As such, they have become a symbol of Ukraine’s defense and their pilots were considered by many to be national heroes.

In a statement about the crash Thursday, the Air Force said only that it had “lost contact” with the plane, leaving it unclear whether it was brought down by either friendly or hostile fire, mechanical failure or pilot error. The Air Force also said F-16s shot down four Russian cruise missiles on Monday.

Military experts point out that while the loss of the aircraft is a setback, it is not unusual for fighter jets to crash, even on peacetime training missions, and that the impact on Ukraine’s overall war effort is likely to be small.

The Ukrainians have high hopes for the potential battlefield impact of the F-16s, which are better equipped for both defensive and offensive operations than the fleet of Soviet-era aircraft used by the Ukrainian Air Force. But experts warned it could take years before enough of the planes are delivered – and enough pilots and ground crew are trained – for their full impact to be felt.

A recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said Ukraine should be allowed to begin using the aircraft to strike ground targets soon, but “it will be years before the Ukrainian Air Force has enough experience to carry out effective combat missions. »