Disaster in the skies over the Black Sea: Ukraine paid the money, but did not admit guilt. Disaster in the sky over the Black Sea: Ukraine paid the money, but did not admit guilt Error after error

What we know about the crash over the Black Sea on October 4, 2001 is “a severe plane crash that occurred on October 4, 2001. A Tu-154M (registration number RA-85693, factory 91A866) of Siberia Airlines, operating flight SBI1812 on the route Tel Aviv - Novosibirsk, crashed over the Black Sea. According to the conclusion of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), at an altitude of 11 thousand meters, the plane was unintentionally shot down by a Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missile fired into the air as part of military exercises held on the Crimean Peninsula. All 66 passengers and 12 crew members were killed."

Here's everything we know about this disaster. Everything seems simple and clear. Ukrainian air defenses shot down a Russian plane during an exercise attended by Ukrainian President Kuchma. It turns out that not everything is so simple in the events of that tragic day. If you delve a little into the history of the issue, it turns out that the Russian and Ukrainian military conducted training exercises at the training ground of the 31st research center of the Black Sea Fleet Russian Federation(http://sevastopol.su/author_page.php?id=21997&parent=1034) at Cape Opuk: in the presence of delegations from 7 states.

Ground-based anti-aircraft missile systems S-200, S-300, S-125, Buk, Kub complexes, Ukrainian ships frigate "Sagaidachny" and corvette "Lutsk", as well as the Russian Black Sea Fleet ship "Pytlivy", equipped with anti-aircraft missile systems " Osa”, took part in shooting at an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft Tu-143, known as the “Flight” target. A total of 23 missiles were fired at targets. Flight SBI1812 took off from international airport named after David Ben-Gurion at 8:00 UTC (10:00 Israeli time). At 9:39 UTC, the aircraft entered area of ​​responsibility No. 7 of the North Caucasus Automated Air Traffic Control Center (SCC AUTC) “Strela” and the crew informed the dispatcher about the passage of the ODIRA mandatory reporting point.

The flight was carried out at an altitude of 11,100 meters within the international air route B-145, which was not subject to any restrictions, including temporary ones, in force during the period of military exercises air defense Russia and Ukraine. At 9:45 UTC (13:45 Moscow time), the tape recorder of the Strela SCC AUVD recorded a sound signal corresponding to the crew’s exit to external communication, accompanied by an emotional cry. Subsequently, within 45 seconds, several more signals were recorded from the crew members pressing the button on the on-board VHF radio station, followed by noises and screams from the crew members (including the phrase “...where did you hit ...”), indicating a sudden in the event of an emergency on board the aircraft.

Almost simultaneously with the first press, the dispatcher noted the disappearance of the aircraft mark from the radar screens. The plane at that time was at an altitude of 11 kilometers, approximately 200 kilometers southwest of the city of Sochi. At the same time, the crew of an Armenian Airlines An-24 aircraft located in the same area reported a recorded flash above it. The coordinates of the approximate place where the plane crashed were determined to be 42°11′ N. w. 37°37′ E. d., which is approximately 280 kilometers from Novorossiysk. For the average person, everything seems obvious at first glance, but it turns out that not everything is so simple.................

During the investigation, the following facts were established......................

1. At 13:42 Moscow time, radiation from the radar equipment of the S-200V Ukrainian air defense complex was stopped.

2. According to monitoring data from the Russian Gelendzhik radar station on October 4, 2001, a 5V28 SAM S 200V missile was observed in the airspace 30 seconds before the explosion at a distance of 50 km from the crash site.

3. The report claims that the Tu-143 “Flight” target was destroyed three minutes before the Tu-154 crash by fire from the Russian S-300 PS air defense system, located 11 km from the Ukrainian S-200V air defense system.

And here everything turns out to be clear, just look at the tactical and technical characteristics of the missiles of the S-200 and S-300 air defense systems.

The first thing that catches your eye is that the Ukrainian S-200 air defense missile system technically could not cover a distance of 50 km to the Tu-154 aircraft in 30 seconds. (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D1-200) Rocket flight speed: 700-1200 m/s, depending on the range......

That is, the maximum distance where a Ukrainian S-200 air defense missile could fly in 30 seconds is 36 km. Let me remind you that the distance from the Ukrainian S-200 missile to the Tu-154 30 seconds before the explosion was 50 km. And then other design differences emerge between the S-200 air defense system, which was used by Ukrainian air defense, and the S-300 air defense system, which was used by Russian air defense. The S-200 air defense system uses a passive missile guidance system, while the S-300 air defense system uses a semi-active missile guidance system.

This means that the Ukrainian air defense S-200 air defense missile could hit the plane only if the ground radar illuminated the target, and as the investigation established, three minutes before the explosion, the Ukrainian radar equipment was turned off. That is, it turns out that the Ukrainian S-200 air defense missile system was not aimed at the target or had already hit the Tu-143 Reis target. And the S-300 air defense missile system has a more modern semi-active guidance system that allows the missile to aim at the target itself without using illumination from the Earth.

Through a short analysis, it can be assumed that the Tu-154 aircraft of the Sibir AK was shot down by a Russian air defense S-300 missile, which captured the aircraft as a target after the Ukrainian S-200 air defense system shot down the target. Another very strange thing against the backdrop of such a complicated story is the fact that the investigation of this plane crash was carried out not by the ICAO international commission, but by a commission of representatives of Russia and Ukraine under the leadership of the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Vladimir Rushailo.

It feels like the killers were investigating a murder they themselves committed......

An indirect recognition that Ukraine was not involved in the death of the Sibir AK plane was the speech of Vladimir Putin immediately after the disaster on the evening of October 4, 2001 (http://www.newsru.com/russia/04Oct2001/tu154_pu.html). Vladimir Putin said that Ukrainian air defense forces could not shoot down the Russian Tu-154 aircraft that crashed on Thursday in the Black Sea during an exercise.

"Firstly, all necessary services in Ukraine were notified in advance......................... Secondly, the weapons that were used in “at this time, according to tactical and technical data, it could not reach the air corridors in which our aircraft was located,” Putin said.

Another question arises: “Why did Kuchma eventually admit that Ukrainian air defense shot down the plane?............... I have only one answer to it - Kuchma received good money for admitting guilt for Putin . Don’t forget that Putin had just gotten away with the Kursk nuclear submarine scandal in 2001...... and then there was the loud scandal with the death of Israeli citizens.

So we had to persuade Kuchma and his military to take responsibility for dead people. Indirect evidence of this is the fact that the Ukrainian court confirmed the innocence of the military in the Tu-154 crash in 2001. ////

Now in the TOP there is a post about this tragedy from the point of view of a clumsy “conspiracy theory”. But I caught myself thinking that I only know about it in general terms, although this was actually quite recently. Let's try to collect more real information about this tragedy, which is known today.

Flight 1812 of Siberia Airlines Tel Aviv - Novosibirsk was tragically interrupted on October 4, 2001. The circumstances of the death of the liner are not fully known even now - 15 years after the disaster.

The passenger plane was flying from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, with 78 people on board. There was no one left alive. An examination of the wreckage showed that the plane was shot down by a Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missile. However, the courts in Ukraine refused to admit the guilt of their military. The specific culprits of the tragedy have not been identified.

That's how it was...

WITNESSES IN THE SKY

It was Siberia Airlines flight SBI1812; on October 4, 2001, the plane took off from Israeli airport Ben-Gurion. Communication with the airliner was lost at 13.45 Moscow time. The last words that the dispatchers could make out among the shouts were: “Where did it go?” The plane was hit by an S-200 air defense missile fired by the Ukrainian military during exercises in Crimea. The plane began to fall apart right in the air. This happened in front of the pilots and passengers of an An-24 flying nearby from Simferopol to Yerevan. This is what his pilot David Sargasyan told Komsomolskaya Pravda:

— We were flying at an altitude of 6300 meters. The Russian “carcass” was at an altitude of 11 kilometers, about 20 kilometers from us. You could see it if you wanted. None of us detected the exact moment of the explosion, because we had to monitor our instruments. Suddenly someone shouted that there was a burning object ahead. As it turned out later, it was the wreckage of an airplane. We did not have the right to leave the given height, and we had to make a detour of several kilometers, flying around the scene of the disaster. We also had no right to linger, according to the instructions. All that remained was to report the incident to the dispatcher and continue the flight.

“WE ARE NOT THE FIRST AND WE ARE NOT THE LAST”

On October 10, Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky said that a forensic examination of the bodies raised from the water showed that all victims died from barotrauma. This meant that the airliner quickly collapsed at high altitude. The presence of carbon monoxide in the blood of the victims indicated that a fire had broken out on board.
The totality of the facts left no doubt - the Tu-154 was destroyed by an anti-aircraft missile.

On the same day, journalists asked Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma whether he agreed with the conclusions of Russian experts. The President replied that he would accept the conclusions that were finally approved by the joint working group.

Kuchma did not stop there and uttered words that went down in history: “Look what is happening around the world, in Europe... we are not the first and we are not the last, there is no need to make a tragedy out of this. Errors happen everywhere, and not only on this scale, but on a much larger, planetary scale. If we do not lower ourselves below the civilized level, everything will be fine. And if we pour a bucket of dirt on ourselves, then you’re welcome.”

The words of the President of Ukraine caused, to put it mildly, misunderstanding. The press service of the Israeli Prime Minister issued the following response: “When the person killed is not a representative of your people, then it is probably possible to make such academic conclusions. 78 people died, most of whom were Israelis - for us this is the greatest tragedy."

VOLUNTARY PAYMENTS OF MILLIONS

An international scandal broke out. In Russia, a criminal case was immediately opened under the article “Terrorism,” but already on October 16, all materials were transferred to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. They reluctantly and with reservations admitted that perhaps their S-200 missile deviated from its target during an exercise and hit a Russian plane. Or perhaps not. The archives of our newspaper preserve the words of the commander-in-chief of the air defense of Ukraine Vladimir Tkachev:

“Expert estimates and most factors indicate that it could be our missile.”

Ukraine paid monetary compensation under the 2003 agreement “On the Settlement of Claims”: $7.5 million to the relatives of the dead Israelis and 7.8 million to the relatives of the dead Russians. However, the payments were made on Ex Gratia terms, that is, voluntary, without any legal liability. Officially, Square never admitted her guilt. And all the claims of Siberia Airlines were rejected by the Ukrainian court.

“For unknown reasons, the investigation did not continue in international courts, which casts a shadow on the international community. Today we ask the United Nations to correct this situation. The Ukrainian military most likely made a technical error. But the behavior of the highest officials of Ukraine in those years, who directly covered up a terrible crime, causes consternation in any civilized person. The families of the victims will not get their loved ones back, but the impunity of high-level officials who committed and deny this crime is a dangerous precedent for the whole world in general and for Ukraine itself in particular, says the petition of those who lost relatives over the Black Sea 15 years ago.

Just a few hours after the crash, a US administration representative confidently stated that the passenger plane was destroyed by shots from outside - or rather, shot down by an air defense missile. As CNN reported, “there is convincing evidence that the Tu-154 plane was hit by a Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missile fired during a military exercise.” And since Kiev is not used to arguing with the opinion of Washington, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense soon officially confirmed the fact of conducting firing training at the training ground of the 31st research center of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation at the training ground in the area of ​​​​Cape Opuk.

There, in the presence of military attaches of seven foreign states at once, the S-200, S-300, S-125 anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as the Buk and Kub complexes, were demonstrably tested. In addition, the most combat-ready Ukrainian warships “Sagaidachny” and “Lutsk”, which fired from the Osa anti-aircraft missile system, took part in the exercises. All launches were carried out on an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft Tu-143, known under the code name “Flight” target, towards which 23 combat missiles were fired as usual various types. Moreover, in addition to the Ukrainian military, Russian military specialists serving the range took part in the shooting - because then, fifteen years ago, this peaceful cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and Ukraine was the most common thing. Especially in the Crimea, where joint exercises were a fairly common practice. The investigation into the causes of the tragedy took literally several days. Already on October 9, after studying the holes in the fuselage of the downed plane, it became clear that it was hit by a missile from the S-200 Surface-to-Air air defense system. On October 12, the press secretary of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Konstantin Khivrenko, commenting on the preliminary results of the investigation into the incident, publicly admitted that the cause of the death of the Tu-154 could have been a Ukrainian missile.

USA sees everything

Unlike the story that happened in 2014, in 2001 the United States did not seek to classify the data it had about the disaster.

Thanks to the leak of this information to the media, within a few hours US television companies reported sensational information: the Russian airliner was apparently shot down by a Ukrainian S-200 air defense missile launched during a military exercise.

Initially, the Russian side, relying on information received from Kyiv, denied such a possibility.

“Firstly, all necessary services in Ukraine were notified in advance. Secondly, the weapons that were used at that time, according to tactical and technical data, could not reach the air corridors in which our aircraft was located... In any case, there is no reason not to trust the Ukrainian side,” the president said on the day of the disaster Russia Vladimir Putin.

However, already on October 5, Ukrainian Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh said that the version of a missile hitting the plane “has a right to exist.”

Israeli experts also worked together with Russian specialists. Particular attention was drawn to the data recorded by the tape recorder of the Strela automated air traffic control center.

At 13:45, the tape recorder recorded a signal corresponding to the crew’s access to external communication, accompanied by an emotional cry. Over the next few seconds, the external communication button was pressed several more times, due to which noise and screams on board were recorded. We were also able to make out the phrase “Where did you go?!”, shouted by one of the pilots.

Unlike the investigation into the death of flight MH-17 over the Donbass, the investigation into the Tu-154 crash over the Black Sea did not need to show “cartoons” and dubious photos from the Internet as evidence. According to experts, the collected data was quite enough to win the case against Ukraine in an international court.

MODERN PARALLELS: TU AND BOEING

“When our plane was shot down, it was clear from the very beginning whose hands it was,” says Boris Kalinovsky, whose father died in the Tu-154. — The American State Department announced in the very first hours that it had detected how a Ukrainian missile collided with the airliner. That is, the technology allows you to see what happened in the air. We spent a long time proving the guilt of the Ukrainian army in the Kyiv courts. But all they achieved was money, 200 thousand dollars per victim. And then the Ukrainian side positioned this not as compensation, but as humanitarian aid. We had in our hands the conclusions of experts, the conclusions of the MAK, but suddenly Kyiv provided the conclusions of its Ukrainian Institute of Forensic Expertise, which no one had ever heard of before, and it said that the military were innocent. Of course, it was a falsification. But the case was lost. For some reason, Siberia Airlines did not appeal the decision to the European Court - they say that it was under pressure from officials, because there were difficult relations between Russia and Ukraine at that time related to the situation with oil and gas.

Relatives of the victims admit that the story of the Tu-154 is partly reminiscent of the 2014 plane crash with a Malaysian Boeing in the Donetsk region.

“The situation repeated itself almost exactly the same,” says Kalinovsky. — In 2001, in order to save money, the Ukrainian authorities created a very small restricted zone around the exercises - with a radius of 70 kilometers, while S-200 missiles were used, which have a range of up to 300 kilometers! That is, in an amicable way, they needed to close the international air route for the duration of the exercises, but then Ukraine would have to compensate the airlines for all costs associated with flying over this zone. The same thing happened with Boeing. Instead of closing the air corridor over the places where the fighting is taking place, Ukraine decided to save money. Perhaps there were other reasons. I will say this: what happened now and then was not an accident. Specialists can see this with the naked eye. Both then and now it was not just a mistake by the anti-aircraft gunners. In 2001, everything was set up - even then there were intentions to aggravate relations between Russia and Ukraine.

MISSING PARTS

It was not possible to prove Ukraine’s guilt in court also because... the most important material evidence disappeared. The S-200 missile hits the target, exploding near it, thousands of steel balls destroying everything in its path. They were stuffed with fragments of the Russian “carcass”. All that was left to do was send the bullets for examination.
- There were a lot of murky things in the investigation that were incomprehensible to us. For example, the disappearance of one of the main material evidence. I’ve never told journalists about this before, but the head of the investigative department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, Valery Zhuravel, once admitted to me that the steel balls simply disappeared on the way to Ukraine. The one who transported them almost died himself, getting into a car accident, which, as you understand, could have been arranged. Zhuravel was then a member of the commission investigating the disaster, I don’t know how much you can trust his words. But if these balls were sent for examination, it would immediately be clear which missile was fired from and who fired it. But it seems that the last clue incriminating the Ukrainian military was deliberately destroyed.

VERBATIM

Komsomolskaya Pravda publishes an excerpt from the order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated December 4, 2001 No. NA-424-r “On the emergency incident with the Tu-154M aircraft RA-85693.”
At 9 hours 45 minutes UTC, the tape recorder of the SCC AUVD "Strela" recorded a sound signal corresponding to the crew entering external communication, accompanied by an emotional cry. Subsequently, within 45 seconds, several more signals were recorded from the crew members pressing the button on the on-board HF radio station, followed by noises and screams from the crew members (including the phrase “... where did ..."), indicating a sudden occurrence on board the aircraft emergency vessel. Almost simultaneously with the first press on the radar screen of the Strela Air Traffic Control Center, the dispatcher noted the disappearance of the aircraft mark.

At 9 hours 46 minutes UTC, the crew of the An-24 aircraft of the Armenian airline contacted the dispatcher, reporting that they had observed an explosion in the air and, presumably, a crash of the plane. The crew of the Tu-154M RA-85693 aircraft did not respond to repeated calls from ATC authorities and the crew of the An-24 aircraft. The emergency incident with the Tu-154M RA-85693 aircraft occurred as a result of the aircraft being hit by the 5B14Sh warhead of the 5B28 missile of the S-200V anti-aircraft complex, which was launched during an exercise of the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces from a position located near the city of Feodosia on the Crimean Peninsula. When hit, the aircraft's structure received significant damage, which caused depressurization of the passenger cabin and ignition of fuel and other flammable substances of the aircraft. The plane collided with water, collapsed and sank at a depth of 2000 meters. As a result of the incident, all passengers and crew members on board the aircraft were killed.

Relatives of those killed in the plane crash believe that Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners deliberately shot down the Tu-154 to create a quarrel between the two countries.

Compensations were paid, but the perpetrators were not named. After 15 years, the relatives of those who were on board the Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk plane have not achieved punishment for the Ukrainian military. The petition “Create an international tribunal to investigate the Tu-154 plane crash” has been hanging on the Internet for more than a year, but has collected only a hundred and a half signatures. It seems that the story of the plane shot down over the Black Sea itself drowned in the news chaos of daily emergencies. But not for the relatives of the 66 passengers and 12 crew members.

"It's Putin's fault"

The tactics of the Ukrainian side are as follows: since the main part of the plane remained at the bottom of the Black Sea, then the fact that the plane was destroyed by a Ukrainian air defense missile cannot be considered proven. And to make claims to Ukraine for state level too late - the issue was resolved “amicably” back in 2003.

Such interstate agreements did not suit many relatives of the victims. Some considered the compensation insufficient, while others generally believed that it was not a matter of money, but of punishing the perpetrators.

Especially for such persistent ones, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine ordered an examination in 2008, which declared the IAC’s conclusions unfounded. According to Ukrainian experts, the S-200 complex could not shoot down the Tu-154. Experts did not rule out that the source of damage to the aircraft could have been located both outside and inside the airliner, in particular, it could have been an explosive device placed “between the ceiling of the interior of the aircraft” and its outer shell.

Based on this conclusion, in 2011, the Economic Court of Kyiv rejected a claim for $15 million filed by Siberia Airlines against the Ministry of Defense and the State Treasury of Ukraine.

But that's not all. In the early 2010s, “investigations” appeared in the Ukrainian media, the authors of which claimed that there was an air defense error, but the culprits were not the Ukrainian, but the Russian military.

This version began to be circulated especially actively after February 2014, and especially after the death of the Boeing over Donbass.

According to this version, the Tu-154 was allegedly shot down by the S-300 complex belonging to the Russian army. After this, according to supporters of this theory, Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly agreed with the head of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma that the Ukrainian side would “take the blame upon itself” for certain financial preferences.

Adherents of this version rely on the decision of Ukrainian courts, which is based on the conclusions of Ukrainian experts.

All this could have been avoided if Russia in the early 2000s had not harbored illusions about maintaining good neighborly relations with Ukraine, for the sake of which, in fact, the agreement “On the Settlement of the Claim” was concluded in 2003. But what's done is done.

MEMORY

On October 4, mourning ceremonies were held in Novosibirsk to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of the TU-154M aircraft of the S7 airline (in 2001 - Siberia), operating flight No. 1812 Tel Aviv - Novosibirsk. As one of the relatives told a REGNUM correspondent dead passengers, Chairman of the “Fund for Assistance to the Families of Lost Passengers of Flight No. 1812” Boris Kalinovsky, the anniversary was traditionally celebrated at the Zaeltsovsky cemetery in Novosibirsk.

There is a memorial here in the form of the tail of an airplane and a stele with the names of the dead passengers. Boris Kalinovsky said that relatives of the disaster victims and representatives of the Jewish agency Sokhnut in Novosibirsk gathered at the cemetery. Some of the relatives are these days in Sochi - at the site of the plane crash.

sources

On October 4, 2001, a Siberia Airlines airliner unexpectedly disappeared from tracking radars, flying on the Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk route. After some time, the bodies of some passengers and the wreckage of the plane were discovered in the Black Sea. It later turned out that the liner crashed into the sea. All 78 people on board, most of them Israeli citizens, and crew members were killed. And even 15 years after this tragedy, its exact cause is still unknown.

Firing sector

An initial investigation showed that the crash of the airliner was caused by a Ukrainian missile fired during joint Ukrainian-Russian military exercises in the area. At first, the military denied involvement in this tragedy, then they partially admitted their guilt, and then the conclusions of the Ukrainian examination indicated the innocence of our country. But Ukraine still paid compensation to the relatives of the dead Israelis and Russians.

Immediately after the disaster, the Interstate Aviation Committee, which was created by the countries post-Soviet space for investigation similar disasters, began his investigation into the death of the plane. And according to his conclusion, the Sibir company plane was unintentionally shot down by a Ukrainian S-200 missile fired during a joint Ukrainian-Russian exercise from Cape Opuk in Crimea, which, by the way, was attended by 23 foreign observers.

The Ty-154 aircraft accidentally found itself in the center of the intended firing sector of a training target, as a result of which it was detected by the S-200 radar and accepted as a training target. Given the lack of time and nervousness caused by the presence of high command and foreign guests, the S-200 operator did not double-check this data and pressed “start.” In addition, the organizers of the shooting did not take all measures to free up the airspace in the exercise area. Flights were prohibited only within a radius of 50 km, although the range of destruction of targets with the S-200B complex is 255 kilometers.

And the downed plane itself was in the area of ​​responsibility for air traffic services of the Russian Federation. Ukrainian air traffic services authorities have closed the airspace for flights within their jurisdiction - up to the border of the Russian Federation's zone of responsibility.

"We know that we are involved in the tragedy"

After these conclusions, the head of the Ukrainian defense department, Alexander Kuzmuk, apologized for what happened.

We know that we are involved in the tragedy, although its causes have not yet been fully established,” he said.

But President Leonid Kuchma still dismissed him for this tragedy.

In 2003, Ukraine signed intergovernmental agreements on compensation with Russia and Israel. In accordance with these agreements, Ukraine paid the relatives of the victims: $7.8 million to Russia and $7.5 million to Israel. The payment of compensation was carried out according to the legal procedure ex gratia, that is, without Ukraine admitting its guilt for the downed plane.

This was also the reason that the claim of Siberia Airlines against the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the State Treasury for $15 million was rejected. And the refusal to pay this claim was based on the conclusions of specialists from the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (KNISE) and the Kharkov Institute air force them. Kozhedub.

Experts came to the conclusion that the Sibir company plane could not have been shot down by a Ukrainian missile. The rocket exploded at a distance of 780 meters from the plane, which made its destruction impossible. The “black boxes” were never found, therefore, according to Ukrainian experts, there is no way to reliably determine the causes of the disaster. And based on the available information, Ukrainian experts have suggested that the plane was damaged by an explosive device that could have been located “between the ceiling of the inside of the plane” and its body.

At the same time, an alternative version of the plane’s death appeared. On the day of the tragedy, during the exercise, 23 missiles were fired from Ukrainian and Russian anti-aircraft missile systems, including Russian S-300 air defense systems. According to monitoring data from the Russian radar station "Gelendzhik", 30 seconds before the explosion, the Ukrainian missile was observed at a distance of 50 kilometers from the crash site. That is, in 30 seconds, according to her capabilities, she could not have been at the point of contact with the plane. The maximum distance that a Ukrainian S-200 air defense missile could fly during this time is 36 km. But the Russian S-300 air defense system at the same time was 11 kilometers closer to the plane’s route than the Ukrainian one. And his missile, in terms of its tactical and technical characteristics and speed, could easily cover a distance of 50 kilometers during this time. But this version remained an alternative. At that time, the Ukrainian leadership did not want to spoil relations with either Israel or Russia, so they made a gesture of goodwill by paying compensation to the relatives of the victims without admitting their guilt.

In September 2004, the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine closed the criminal case into the crash, since the investigation did not establish objective data that would reliably indicate that the Tu-154 was shot down by an S-200 missile launched during an exercise by the Ukrainian air defense forces. As a result, the Sibir company, having gone through all possible authorities in Ukraine, did not take the opportunity to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

The coordinates of the approximate crash site of the plane have been determined 42.183333 , 37.616667 42°11′ N. w. 37°37′ E. d. /  42.183333° N. w. 37.616667° E. d.(G) (O), which is approximately 280 kilometers from Novorossiysk.

A special commission was created to establish the causes of the accident. An An-26 of the Russian Federal Border Service urgently flew to the scene of the accident from Gelendzhik. The border patrol ship "Grif" also went there. An AN-12 aircraft of the Ministry of Defense and a Mi-8 helicopter of the Sochi Search and Rescue Service with rafts and rescuers on board also flew to the crash site, two rescue tug- “Mercury” from Tuapse and “Captain Beklemishev” from Novorossiysk, as well as the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry vessel “Rescuer Prokopchik”. The An-12 plane found oil stains at the supposed crash site. Helicopters found several pieces of the plane and the bodies of dead passengers floating on the surface of the sea.

Versions

Technical investigation

October 5 Information appeared about bullet holes found in the Tu-154 fuselage, but this information was called premature. Head of the West Siberian Regional Directorate air transport Vladimir Tasun stated that, “according to unverified information, the controller on the locator saw a luminous point quickly approaching the plane. This is the only thing that was received from unofficial sources via telephone channels by employees of the Sibir company from Rostov.” On the same day, rescuers from Israel joined the Russian rescuers, and an analysis of the Tu-154 crew’s conversations and an analysis of the videotape recording radar readings began. On this day, Prime Minister of Ukraine Anatoly Kinakh made a statement that the version of a missile hitting the Siberia Airlines Tu-154 plane “has a right to exist.”

October 6 Secretary of the Russian Security Council Vladimir Rushailo said that objects that were not related to the structure of the aircraft were found at the scene of the accident, and that “the destruction of the aircraft occurred as a result of an explosive attack.” At the same time, the head of the Main Directorate of the North Caucasus Regional Center of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ivan Teterin, expressed the opinion that the likelihood of finding any remains of the Tu-154 aircraft at the bottom of the Black Sea is minimal due to the great depth and zero visibility.

October 7 According to the commission, at 13:45:12 the scream of the Tu-154 pilot was recorded by a ground tape recorder.

October 9 According to the commission, an analysis of the holes in the fuselage shows that the plane could have been hit by a missile from the S-200 air defense system, since the size and shape of the holes are quite consistent with the shrapnel of the high-explosive fragmentation warhead of the missile of this particular complex. Establishing the details of the disaster is complicated by the inability to determine the exact location of the plane crash - the wreckage was scattered over an area with a radius of more than 12 nautical miles.

October 10 The Russian Prosecutor General's Office reported preliminary data from a forensic medical examination of the victims - the cause of death of all 14 passengers, whose bodies were discovered during search and rescue operations, was barotrauma. Also, according to information from Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Sergei Fridinsky, carbon monoxide was found in the blood of the victims, which indicates a fire on board the ship.

October 11 Vladimir Rushailo announced the conclusion of the technical commission that investigated the causes of the Tu-154 plane crash: “multiple damage in the form of similar holes indicate that the Russian aircraft was damaged from the outside.” At the same time, Rushailo emphasized that “the remains of the plane that crashed into the sea were not found due to the complex structure of the bottom, the aggressive hydrogen sulphide environment and a large layer of silt - up to 6 meters.”

October 12 Press Secretary of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Konstantin Khivrenko, commenting on the preliminary results of the investigation into the incident, admitted that a Ukrainian missile could have caused the death of the Tu-154.

October 13 Vladimir Rushailo said that according to the analysis of the plane's wreckage and holes, an anti-aircraft missile exploded 15 meters above the plane. At a conference in Kyiv, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine apologized to the families and friends of those killed in the crash of the Russian Tu-154 aircraft. “We know that we are involved in the tragedy, although its causes have not yet been fully established.”

Ukrainian expertise

Legal investigation and claims for damages

Initially, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case under the article “Terrorism” in connection with the disaster passenger plane Tu-154 over the Black Sea. . After the publication of the commission’s findings on October 16, 2001, the case was transferred for proceedings to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, and the Russian side officially closed the case.

Immediately after the court's decision, the head of the Fund for Assistance to the Families of the Victims, Boris Kalinovsky, and the Belonogov family, which refused to receive financial assistance, filed a lawsuit for compensation for moral damage - the defendants were the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Defense and the State Treasury of Ukraine. The case was heard in the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv and on January 30, 2008, compensation was completely denied. The motivational part of the refusal stated that the guilt of the defendants in the disaster was not established by the investigation of the prosecutor's office, the evidence presented by the plaintiffs is contradictory and cannot be recognized as a basis for satisfying the claim. The losing party did not file an appeal against the court's decision.

Simultaneously with the claim from the relatives of the victims, Siberia Airlines OJSC filed a claim against the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the State Treasury of Ukraine for damages: the amount of the claim included the market value of the destroyed aircraft with additional equipment, costs associated with the investigation of the accident, insurance costs, lost profits due to the loss of the aircraft, and moral damages. The consideration of the case lasted more than seven years and ended in a victory for the defense of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine: based on an additional analysis of the materials of the State Commission of Investigation carried out by the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, the claims were completely rejected. On October 10, 2011, the losing party filed an appeal to the Economic Court of Appeal of Kyiv.

On May 28, 2012, the Kiev Economic Court of Appeal rejected the complaint Russian airline"Siberia" (S7 Airlines) on the decision of the court of first instance, which did not admit the guilt of the Ukrainian military in the crash of the Russian Tu-154 in 2001. On December 11, 2012, the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine upheld the decision. Representatives of the airline announced their intention to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Versions of the causes of the tragedy

Operator error

The S-200 anti-aircraft missile system uses a semi-active guidance system, when the source of radiation is a powerful ground-based radar (“target illumination”), and the missile itself is guided by the signal reflected from the target. In the S-200, there are two main operating modes of the target illumination radar - MHI (monochromatic radiation) and FCM (phase code modulation). The MHI mode is typically used to scan the airspace when searching for targets, which determines the elevation angle, azimuth and radial speed of the target, but does not determine the range to the target. The range is determined in the FCM mode, but switching the radar to this mode takes up to 30 seconds and may not occur if there is not enough time.

It is most likely that during firing training with the participation of Ukrainian air defense, which was carried out on October 4, 2001 at Cape Opuk in Crimea, the Ty-154 aircraft accidentally ended up in the center of the intended firing sector of the training target and had a radial speed close to it, as a result of which it was detected by the S-200 radar and accepted as a training target. In conditions of lack of time and nervousness caused by the presence of high command and foreign guests, the S-200 operator did not determine the range to the target and “highlighted” the Tu-154 (located at a range of 250-300 km) instead of an inconspicuous training target (launched from a range of 60 km). Thus, the defeat of the Tu-154 by an anti-aircraft missile was most likely the result not of the missile missing the training target (as is sometimes claimed), but of the obvious aiming of the missile by the S-200 operator at an erroneously identified target. The calculations of the complex did not assume the possibility of such a shooting outcome and did not take measures to prevent it. The size of the range did not ensure the safety of firing air defense systems of such a range. The organizers of the shooting did not take the necessary measures to free up the airspace.

Terrorist attack

Due to the absence of the remains of the plane and the “black boxes”, which were never found, the establishment of absolutely reliable causes of the disaster was considered impossible by the KNIISE examination, but based on the available information, Ukrainian experts suggested that the plane was damaged by an explosive device that could have been located "between the ceiling of the interior of the aircraft" and its body.

Reactions of senior officials of states affected by the plane crash

Russia

Ukraine

Israel

The Ukrainian president’s statement “there are tragedies on a larger scale” shocked the world community. L. D. Kuchma's frivolous statement provoked an angry reaction from official Israel. The press secretary of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon commented on the statement of the Ukrainian president:

When the person killed is not a representative of your people, then it is probably possible to make such academic conclusions. 78 people died, most of whom were Israelis - for us this is the greatest tragedy.

The 16th episode of the series “Aerobatics” (Russia, 2009) contains references to the disaster described: the Russian Il-86 plane was flying from Tel Aviv to Moscow, fell into the zone of Ukrainian air defense training exercises over the Black Sea and was shot down from the S-200 air defense system (in the film, however, the plane was landed in the steppe in the Kuban)

Perpetuation of memory

Ten years later

Notes

1. I am not me and the rocket is not mine
2. Plane crash of flight Tu-154 Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk (2001). Help | Inquiries | News feed "RIA Novosti"
3. "The crash of the Tu-154 plane in the Black Sea occurred due to a terrorist attack"
4. Tu-154 plane crash in the Black Sea
5. Chronicle of the tragedy
6. Western media report that the TU-154 plane was shot down by a missile from Ukraine
7. Tu-154 was shot down by a Ukrainian missile?
8. In search of the Ukrainian trace
9. No bullet holes were found on the fuselage of the Tu-154 - News NEWSru.com
10. There is practically no hope for Triton
11. “The cause of death of the TU-154 passengers was barotrauma”
12. “Secretary of the Russian Security Council Vladimir Rushailo told reporters the conclusion of the technical commission. ..."
13. “The conclusion of the commission to investigate the death of TU-154: “the plane was hit from the outside””
14. News NEWSru.com:: Experts deny that the Russian Tu-154, which crashed into the Black Sea in 2001, was shot down by a Ukrainian missile
15. Experts deny that a Russian plane was hit by a Ukrainian missile in 2001 // RIANovosti Ukraine.
16. Ukraine sees no reason to initiate a case regarding the Tu-154 crash
17. The investigation is over, forget it
18. The Prosecutor General's Office has again taken up the case of the crash of the Russian Tu-154 over the Black Sea
19. The court ordered the Ukrainian prosecutor's office to resume the case of the Tu-154 plane crash
20. The Kyiv Economic Court rejected the claim of Siberia Airlines against the Ministry of Defense and the State Treasury of Ukraine
21. Ukraine denied a claim to the families of those killed in the Tu-154 crash
22. The decision of the Kyiv court in the case of the Tu-154 shot down in 2001 has been appealed
23. The Ukrainian military was not involved in the emergency situation with the Tu-154 in 2001, the court confirmed // RIA Novosti, 05/28/2012, 15:27
24. Khripun, V.; Shagiakhmetov, P. Ukraine will appear before the ECHR. Kommersant (December 12, 2012). Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2012.

Against the backdrop of the endless and inconclusive investigation into the Malaysian Boeing crash, the death from a Ukrainian missile looks indicative Russian plane Tu-154 over the Black Sea in 2001, notes Alexander Khrolenko.

15 years ago, on October 4, 2001, after being hit by an anti-aircraft missile from Ukrainian air defense, a Tu-154 passenger plane flying from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk crashed into the Black Sea 185 km southwest of Sochi. All 66 passengers and 12 crew members on board (27 Russian citizens and 51 Israeli citizens) were killed.

Foreign news agencies immediately linked the crash of the Siberia airliner with the terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2001. The version of the explosion was also checked for technical reasons. A few hours later, American intelligence specialists clarified the situation. According to the CBS television company, one of the satellites of the US Department of Defense recorded the launch of a missile from the territory of Crimea at approximately the same time when the Tu-154 fell into the Black Sea.

At the same time, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexander Kuzmuk said that on October 4 the exercises of the air defense forces did not take place. And Ukrainian President (and Commander-in-Chief) Leonid Kuchma flippantly added that there are tragedies on a larger scale.

Perhaps, in the case of the Malaysian Boeing in Ukraine, images from reconnaissance satellites of the US Department of Defense could help, but the Americans have their own interests in the burning Donbass.