Russian plane downed over Black Sea, Kyiv denies early reports of errant missile (10/07/01)

Russian plane downed over Black Sea, Kyiv denies early reports of errant missile

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - A Russian charter plane flying from Israel to Novosibirsk apparently exploded in mid-air with 77 passengers aboard before finally crashing into the Black Sea at 12:44 p.m. local time on October 4, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials.

Serhiy Pohoreltzev, consul general for Ukraine in New York, and Hennadiy Nadolenko, press liaison at Ukraine's Embassy in Washington, confirmed that a Russian-made Tupolev 154 had indeed crashed into the Black Sea 114 miles off the Russian coastal city of Adler, leaving unanswered questions on the flight's chosen path and on what actually brought the plane down.

According to the Associated Press, an anonymous United States official speculated on the possibility of accidental Ukrainian military involvement saying, "This looks to be a military training exercise gone terribly awry," a reference to joint Ukrainian-Russian naval and air force exercises under way in the Black Sea at the time of the crash.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry immediately issued a statement categorically denying Ukrainian military involvement in the accident, although the BBC reported that a military source on the scene had said it was a Ukrainian missile that hit the plane. Speaking on the Ukrainian television news program Studio 1+1, broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Kyiv time, Lt. Col. Kostiantyn Khivrenko, press spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said: "Neither the direction nor the range (of the missiles) correspond to the practical or theoretical point at which the plane exploded. So the Ukrainian military has no involvement, either practical or theoretical, in this accident."

The plane was believed to be carrying 66 Israeli passengers and 11 Russian crew members while en route to Novosibirsk, about 1,750 miles east of Moscow. Reuters reported that the Sibir Airlines flight was on its way from Tel Aviv, but a Sibir Airlines official in Novosibirsk said the plane "appeared to have been off course."

Mr. Nadolenko pointed out that "live fire" missiles were being used in the training exercises, explaining that "the missiles are intended to self-destruct upon missing their target drones."

Because of the recent terrorist attacks on the United States, initial speculation about the crash focused on the possibility of a terrorist act. Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted by Reuters as telling a meeting of European justice ministers: "A civilian aircraft crashed today and it is possible that it was the result of a terrorist act." Reuters also reported that a U.S. government official in Washington stressed: "We want to get away from this notion ... that this was an act of terrorism."

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