Zelensky's silence on F-16 crash raises eyebrows | WION Fineprint
Responding to requests for comment on breaking news from major broadcasters is fast becoming a 24/7 task. I do not complain, because preparing for each of these chats is stimulating and takes me into ever wider concentric rings of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
A couple of hours ago, I joined the Indian broadcaster WION for a discussion that lasted a few minutes but was heavy on content. The subject was the crash of an F-16 that had just entered service in Ukraine. The event took place three days ago but was announced by Kiev only now. It cost the life of Ukraine’s most experienced and celebrated pilot. And it raised many questions, foremost among them whether the plane had been downed by the Russians or by ‘friendly fire’ while it was chasing cruise missiles launched by Russia and heading towards targets in Ukraine.
A scandal erupted in Kiev over the past several hours when a Rada member went public with her allegation that the jet had been downed by an American supplied Patriot air-defense missile. This immediately brought a harsh response from the head of the Ukrainian air force who denounced the lady parliamentarian for besmirching the honor of his fighting units, saying she may be brought to justice for this. Meanwhile, the Russians have been silent, neither denying nor confirming their responsibility for the incident. And Ukrainian official sources say that the F-16 was not hit by enemy fire. Their investigation has given tentative findings which they as yet are not disclosing.
See Russia-Ukraine war: Zelensky's silence on F-16 crash raises eyebrows | WION Fineprint