In his post to Telegram, Mr Zelensky said he had decided to replace Lt Gen Oleschuk, noting that “at the command level, we must strengthen ourselves and protect our people”.

“I am immensely grateful to all our military pilots, all engineers, all mobile fire group warriors, and all air defence personnel,” Mr Zelensky said.

“To everyone who is truly fighting for Ukraine, for results. And this is just as necessary at the command level, we must strengthen ourselves and protect our people. Protect the personnel, protect all our warriors.”

Ukraine’s air force earlier named the killed pilot as Col Oleksiy Mes.

“He fought heroically his last battle in the skies,” it said, adding that he had shot down three cruise missiles and a drone on 26 August.

Mes, whose call sign was Moonfish, was one of Ukraine’s most experienced pilots. He had been trained abroad for F-16 missions.

Lt Gen Anatolii Kryvonozhko was appointed interim commander of Ukraine’s air force, the army’s general staff said in a statement. The officer previously oversaw the central air command, leading operations in the centre of the country.

He takes charge as officials have clashed over the loss of the F-16 jet, which has ignited fierce debate in Ukraine.

Ukrainian politician Mariana Bezuhla, who sits on a parliamentary defence committee, claimed on Thursday that the jet was downed by Ukraine’s Patriot air defence system.

Mr Oleshchuk responded earlier on Friday that an investigation was under way and no one was hiding anything. He accused Ms Bezuhla of discrediting military leadership and said the time would come for an apology.

After the announcement of his dismissal, Ms Bezuhla posted on social media that truth would prevail.

Around 65 F-16s have been pledged by Nato countries since US President Joe Biden first authorised willing European allies to send them to Ukraine in August 2023.

Mr Zelensky has dismissed multiple military commanders since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In February this year, he sacked the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

And in June, he dismissed Lt Gen Yuriy Sodol after public criticism about the top general’s excessive casualties and accusations of incompetence.