Defense minister says Ukraine's military involved in jet's downing, awaits conclusive investigation (10/21/01)

Defense minister says Ukraine's military involved in jet's downing,
awaits conclusive investigation

by Maryna Makhnonos
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - Ukraine's defense minister, Oleksander Kuzmuk, said on October 13 that Ukrainian forces were involved in the downing of a Russian TU-154 passenger jet earlier in the month, but that no dismissals are on the agenda until experts release their final conclusions about the causes of the crash.

"We don't know the cause of this tragedy today, but we know that we are involved in it," Mr. Kuzmuk said, after unexpectedly joining his deputy, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Air Defense Forces, at a news conference.

It was the first admission of Ukraine's responsibility since a TU-154 airliner flying from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk went down on October 4 over the Black Sea, near the Russian city of Sochi. All 78 people, most of them recent Russian immigrants to Israel, were killed. The remains of 15 people have been recovered.

"I arrived here with only one reason: I offer my apologies to victims' relatives and those dear to them, I bring my apologies to Ukraine's president, the government, the Parliament and the Ukrainian people for harming the prestige of our state," Mr. Kuzmuk said.

The Air Defense Forces commander, Gen. Volodymyr Tkachev, said it is possible the airliner was unintentionally hit by a missile fired by Ukrainian forces during military exercises.

"On the basis of preliminary conclusions by experts, the cause of the air crash could have been the unintended destruction of the plane by a missile during exercises," Gen. Tkachev said.

But he did not definitely confirm that fact, saying that investigators are "very cautious in their conclusions."

"If we don't know the final causes of the accident, how can we determine the parameters of responsibility?" Gen. Tkachev commented.

Shortly after the crash, U.S. officials said the tragedy had been caused by an errant S-200 missile fired by Ukrainian forces during military exercises on the Crimean peninsula.

Ukrainian and Russian authorities at first rejected the U.S. statement, but both have gradually come closer to accepting it.

Russian authorities said on October 16 that the Ukrainian military appears to be responsible for the disaster. "There is only one theory at the moment - that the plane may have been hit by a missile," said Russia's deputy procurator general, Sergei Fridinskyi, speaking at a news conference in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the Interfax news agency reported.

"Now we are looking at the question of handing over this criminal case to the Ukrainian procurator's office in order to complete the case and fully establish the guilt of the Ukrainians," Mr. Fridinskyi said.

Vladimir Rushailo, the chief of the intergovernmental commission investigating the crash, said on October 12 that the aircraft was destroyed when a missile exploded 15 meters above the aircraft.

"The whole of the aircraft was within the zone of the explosion of the missiles warhead," Interfax quoted Mr. Rushailo as saying.

Investigators found 350 holes in fragments of the aircraft recovered from the Black Sea, as well as missile shrapnel in the victims' bodies. They also determined that crew members were killed immediately after an explosion on board the plane, Interfax said.

Pressure has been mounting on Ukraine's leadership to take responsibility for the crash. Ukraine's Parliament voted on October 16 for an inquiry into whether top Defense Ministry officials knew the circumstances of the crash and then lied about them. Officials could face criminal prosecution.

Lawmakers Hryhorii Omelchenko and Anatolii Yermak, who introduced the measure, criticized Mr. Kuzmuk for misleading the Verkhovna Rada by saying that the missile could not have hit the plane.

Mr. Kuzmuk and Gen. Tkachev stressed that the Defense Ministry's prior denial of responsibility was not aimed at confusing the public. They explained that ministry officials never rejected the missile version, but trusted the parameters tracked during the missile's descent.

"The defense forces are an extremely complicated organism," Mr. Kuzmuk said. "There are situations when you trust only men, there are situations when you trust only materiel and equipment, there are situations when you don't trust even eyes."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh said on October 16 that all the officials involved in the crash should bear legal responsibility - but only after Russia's investigative commission issues its final conclusions.

Gen. Tkachev said he is prepared to "take responsibility both morally and legally." He added that he and his deputy, Volodymyr Diakov, who commanded the exercise, have already offered their resignations along with that of Minister Kuzmuk over "this tragic combination of circumstances."

President Leonid Kuchma admitted publicly on October 14 that a Ukrainian missile was to blame for the jet's downing, but warned that "no hasty conclusions should be made." As of October 17 he had not made any decision on dismissals of personnel, according to the presidential press service.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kuzmuk suspended Gen. Tkachev and Mr. Diakov from their duties on October 17, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, Ihor Kholevinskyi, said. He explained the step is temporary, allowing both commanders to focus their work on finding the cause of the crash "in an unbiased investigation" by an interdepartmental commission created by President Kuchma.

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