The Russian ambassador to Washington has blamed the death of a Ukrainian F-16 pilot on inadequate training provided by the United States.
Anatoly Antonov’s comments come as questions remain over the crash on August 26 of one of the American-made fourth-generation jets supplied to Ukraine, which killed Lieutenant Colonel Oleksiy Mes, also known by his call sign “Moonfish.”
Mes had a high public profile after making frequent media appearances and visiting Washington, D.C., to lobby the U.S. to send the aircraft, which Ukraine hoped would change the battlefield calculus.
On the Russian Embassy’s Telegram channel, Antonov said, “U.S. instructors have failed to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets,” as quoted in a report by TASS, a state-run Russian news agency.
“Local instructors have failed to train the Ukrainians,” Antonov continued. “I can imagine how they would shout if reports came that the hapless plane was brought down by our soldiers.”
The rite of burial of Ukrainian F-16 pilot Oleksiy Mes in Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine, on August 29. Russia’s ambassador to Washington has blamed Mes’ death on a lack of pilot training.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
When contacted for comment about Antonov’s claims, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry told Newsweek: “As for the Russians, they always lie. The information war continues.” The spokesperson added there was no further information about the F-16 crash.
The crash that killed Mes delivered a blow to Ukraine’s military, which had waited for the long-delayed U.S. aircraft, whose capabilities are more advanced than the Soviet-era fighter jets Kyiv had relied on.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Mykola Oleshchuk, the head of Ukraine’s air force.
Mariana Bezuhla, a Ukrainian lawmaker, previously said the F-16 was mistakenly downed by a U.S.-provided Patriot missile battery and accused air force high command of a “culture of lies.” Oleshchuk dismissed her claims and accused her of discrediting Ukraine’s military leadership.
An investigation into the crash is ongoing, and no official details of the incident, including where it took place, have been released by Ukraine’s General Staff.
The U.S. and Ukraine are collaborating on the investigation, which was discussed on Friday in a meeting in Washington between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, The New York Times reported.
Ukraine received half a dozen F-16s at the start of August, the first tranche of a total of 45 that Kyiv’s allies have promised, although the loss of one so soon may undermine confidence among NATO allies that the country can efficiently handle the weapons.
Mes was among the Ukrainian pilots trained on the aircraft at the Skrydstrup base in Denmark. He said earlier this year that training had been “condensed” and flying the aircraft was more technically challenging.
