NEWSBRIEFS (08/04/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine mourns air show tragedy

KYIV - After a Sukoi-27 fighter jet crashed into a crowd of spectators at Sknyliv Aerodrome President Leonid Kuchma declared July 29 a national day of mourning and indefinitely canceled future military exhibitions. "It's like a bad dream," Kuchma said at the tragedy site on July 27. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma dismisses military officials

KYIV - In the wake of the air-show disaster in Lviv, President Leonid Kuchma on July 29 fired his Chief of General Staff Petro Shulyak, who was acting as Ukraine's defense minister at the time of the crash, as well as Ukrainian Air Force commander Viktor Strelnykov, according to UNIAN. Defense Minister Volodymyr Shkidchenko, upon orders from Kuchma, has fired Serhiy Onyshchenko, the commander of the air corps participating in the show at Skriliv air field. Shkidchenko has resigned because of the crash and is reportedly awaiting Kuchma's approval. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Prosecutors investigate air show

KYIV - Prosecutors have arrested Col. Gen. Viktor Strelnykov, Lieutenant General Serhiy Onyshchenko, and two other military officials who are believed to be responsible for the air-show disaster at Skniliv airfield in Lviv, UNIAN reported on July 29. Strelnykov and Onyshchenko are suspected of committing a crime classified as "negligent attitude to the military service that led to heavy consequences," RFE/RL reported. Officials also opened a criminal case against Volodymyr Toponar and Yuriy Yehorov, the two pilots who safely ejected moments before the crash. They are charged with violating regulations applicable to the use of aircraft. The Procurator-General's Office has issued a preliminary statement that says the air-show tragedy was caused by "serious miscalculations in the organization and fulfillment of flights in the air force and, in particular, in the organization of the air-show measures in Lviv," UNIAN reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Piskun: military negligent in air show

KYIV - Procurator-General Sviatoslav Piskun told journalists on July 29 that preliminary investigations have shown that the air-show crash at Skniliv Air Force base in Lviv was due to "military negligence," UNIAN reported. Piskun also said the two pilots of the Sukoi-27 fighter jet are most likely guilty of "criminal actions" and "incorrect use of the aircraft under those circumstances." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Piskun claims to know who directed killers

KYIV - Sviatoslav Piskun, Ukraine's procurator-general, claimed he has possession of names and photographs of the individuals who ordered the killing of journalist Ihor Aleksandrov in July of last year, and that police are actively searching for the accused. Last week the Supreme Court opened a new investigation into the slaying of Aleksandrov. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Blame placed on Kuchma for air crash

KYIV - According to Our Ukraine's press service, four opposition leaders signed a statement placing blame on President Leonid Kuchma for the July 27 air-show disaster, UNIAN reported on July 30. Reports said the statement was signed by Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz, Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yuschenko, Yulia Tymoshenko and Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, although Communist Party officials subsequently denied that Symonenko signed the document. "All of us should be aware that the blame for similar tragedies is to be put on the political system, which is headed by the person who cares not about state problems but about how to defend the interests of favored clans and strengthen his personal authority," the statement read. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Air force defends sacked commander

Kyiv - Officers of Ukraine's 5th Air Corps issued a letter to President Leonid Kuchma saying that they are treating the arrest of Air-Force Commander Viktor Strelnykov as an "infringement upon their civic rights and professional honor," UNIAN reported on July 31. "[We know] that 10 minutes before [the crash], Col. Gen. Strelnykov gave an order forbidding the commander of the 14th Air Corps to send jets over the crowd and instructing him to conduct the show only over the landing-and-takeoff strip," the letter reads. (RFE/RL Newsline)

July 31 blast kills 20 Ukrainian Miners

DONETSK - Another mining accident claimed the lives of 20 Ukrainian miners at the Zasyadko coal mine in Donetsk Oblast late on July 31, international news agencies reported. The blast came just four days after the tragic air-show disaster in Lviv and three weeks after a mine fire in Donetsk killed 35. The Zasyadko mine has had a terrible safety record in the past few years; 50 miners died in a blast in May 1999, while a blast in August 2001 took the lives of 55 miners. Local prosecuters have launched a criminal investigation into the July 31 blast and Ukraine's Independent Trade Union of Coal Miners has demanded that the manager of the Zasyadko mine, former Prime Minister Yukhym Zvyahilskyy, be punished for his role in the blast. Trade unionists claim that all three disasters at the Zasyadko mine occured because Zvyahilskyy sends miners to work when the concentration of combustible methane gas in mine shafts is over industry safety standards. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Minister apologizes for air-show disaster

KYIV - In a press conference in Sevastopol on August 1, Minister Volodymyr Shkidchenko apologized to Ukrainians for the military's role in the July 27 air-show disaster. "The armed forces realize their responsibility [for the air-show catastrophe in Lviv] and apologize to all of the Ukrainian people," he said as reported by UNIAN. The same day, President Leonid Kuchma said that he has rejected Shkidchenko's bid to resign. Kuchma also made an apparent reference to the letter by four top opposition leaders blaming Ukraine's top leadership for the air-show tragedy, by saying that some politicians have taken advantage of the tragedy to gain "political dividends." (RFE/RL Newsline)

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