Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (2794)	10/5/2001 12:59:40 PM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 281500

kpnews.com REPORT: DEFENSE MINISTRY NOW CONSIDERING POSSIBILITY THAT UKRAINIAN MISSILE SHOT DOWN RUSSIAN PLANE The Associated Press (AP) Amid official denials, the Interfax-Military News Agency reported from Kiev that Ukraine's defense ministry held an overnight session and decided that the Russian plane that crashed into the Black Sea yesterday indeed might have been shot down by a Ukrainian missile. Officials said that a radar-guided missile could deviate from its target and automatically home in on the airliner instead. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry refused to comment on the report. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Alexei Gromov said Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma told the Russian president on Thursday of "the absolute groundlessness of the accusations," by the United States, the Interfax news agency reported. Putin said terrorists may have caused the crash Thursday and he had no reason to doubt the Ukrainian government's statement that missiles used in military exercises did not have the range to reach the airliner. Still, a senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no evidence of terrorism and a Ukrainian military exercise probably led to the crash. An Armenian airline pilot flying nearby witnessed the explosion and crash. The plane fell into the sea, and there was another explosion in the sea. After that I saw a big white spot on the sea, and I had the impression that oil was burning, Garik Ovanisian said. Rushailo said Friday the pilot said he «saw a flash and a falling object. Vladimir Tasun, a top civil aviation official for the Siberian region where the plane was bound, said on Russian NTV television Friday that an air traffic controller in Rostov, who monitored the plane, saw a bright spot approaching the plane before it disappeared from the radar screen. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov sent an urgent request to the Pentagon on Friday for "documentary data" that could prove or disprove its officials contention that a missile had brought the plane down, Interfax reported. Ukrainian officials angrily have denied the U.S. claim, saying Friday they had launched only short-range missiles that couldn't reach the plane flying some 250 kilometers (155 miles) away from the exercise area. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk said a total of 23 missiles were fired at unmanned flying targets at ranges between 20 kilometers (12 miles) and 40 kilometers (25 miles), according to the Interfax news agency. Ukrainian Air Defense Troops chief Gen. Volodymyr Tkachov gave different figures, saying the missiles were fired at targets located 10 to 30 kilometers (6 to 18 miles) away from the testing range on the Crimean Peninsula's Cape Opuk. Ukrainian officials said previously that the missiles were fired at a range of no more than 10 kilometers (6 miles). However, that claim contradicted earlier statements from the Ukrainian military that the exercise would involve a broad array of long-range weapons, including S-125, S-200 and S-300 missiles along with MiG-29 fighter jets. Part of the exercises involved firing on unmanned aircraft, or drones. "All the hits by the rockets used during the exercise were recorded by corresponding devices and reached their targets," said Kostyantyn Khivrenko, the Ukrainian defense spokesman. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry put out a statement Friday, saying that "preliminary data given by Ukraine's Defense Ministry do not give grounds to assert that Ukraine's anti-aircraft forces were involved." Ukrainian Navy chief Adm. Vladimir Komoyedov said all the missiles hit the designated targets, which could be seen "with the naked eye" with the exception of "two missiles that went beyond the horizon," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported Friday. Rescue workers have brought to shore 14 bodies that have been found since the crash, and relatives from Siberia and Israel were arriving in the Black Sea coastal resort of Sochi to identify the victims. The Tupolev 154 belonging to Sibir Airlines, which was en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, went down in pieces 180 kilometers (114 miles) off the Russian coastal city of Adler, near Sochi. The plane carried 66 passengers and 12 crew members, according to Gleb Gutiyev, a spokesman for Sochi's mayor. The plane was carrying Israeli residents, many of whom had recently migrated from Russia and were flying back to visit family.