Birth number for a man. “There is no reason not to trust the Ukrainian side”

Tu-154M ( registration number RA-85845, factory 86A735, serial 0735) was released by the Aviakor aircraft plant on September 30, 1986. In the same year under tail number B-2609 was handed over to the Administration civil aviation China. In July 1988, he was handed over to the Chinese China Airlines Northwest Airlines. In May 2001, it was purchased by the Russian airline Vladivostok Avia and received tail number RA-85845 and the name Ussuriysk. Equipped with three D-30KU-154-II engines from the Rybinsk Engine Plant. On the day of the disaster, the liner made 11,387 take-off and landing cycles and flew 20,953 hours.

Crew

The aircraft was flown by a very experienced crew, the composition of which was as follows:

• The aircraft commander (FAC) is 51-year-old Valentin Stepanovich Goncharuk. A very experienced pilot, he worked for Vladivostok Air for 26 years. In the position of commander of the Tu-154 - from July 16, 1999. He flew 13481 hours, 3661 of them on the Tu-154 (1223 of them as a PIC).
• The co-pilot is 40-year-old Sergei Aleksandrovich Didenko. Experienced pilot, worked for Vladivostok Air for 20 years. Since August 1, 2000, he has been the co-pilot of the Tu-154. He flew 6802 hours, 2004 of them on the Tu-154.
• Navigator - 35-year-old Nikolai Nikolaevich Sakrytin. He worked for Vladivostok Air for 12 years. In the post of Tu-154 navigator - since September 1, 1994. He flew 6429 hours, 4485 of them on the Tu-154.
• Flight engineer - 35-year-old Yuri Alexandrovich Stepanov. He worked for Vladivostok Air for 10 years. Since September 6, 1999, he has been a Tu-154 flight engineer. He flew 954 hours, all on the Tu-154.

Five flight attendants worked in the cabin of the aircraft:

• Olga Mikhailovna Belozerova - senior flight attendant. 37 years old, with Vladivostok Air since May 19, 1985.
• Anna Viktorovna Biryukova. 23 years old, with Vladivostok Air since April 17, 2000.
• Evgenia Vasilievna Isaeva. 25 years old, with Vladivostok Air since April 17, 2000.
• Elena Vasilievna Kulikova, 31 years old.
• Victor Pavlovich Morozov. 40 years old, with Vladivostok Air since August 1, 1995.

Catastrophe

Flight DD-352 took off from Yekaterinburg at 19:47 IKT (02:47 UTC). Takeoff and flight took place in normal mode at an altitude of 10100 meters.

At 01:50 IKT the crew began their descent towards the Irkutsk airport. At 02:05, the crew commander reported on the establishment visual contact co runway Irkutsk airport. During the landing approach, the crew allowed the aircraft speed to drop during the third turn below the permissible one by 10-15 km/h. The autopilot, which was in altitude hold mode, increased the pitch angle as the speed dropped, resulting in an even greater loss of speed. Discovering dangerous situation, the crew added a mode to the engines, rejected the steering wheel to the left and away from themselves, which led to a rapid increase in vertical speed and an increase in roll to the left. Having lost spatial orientation, the PIC tried to bring the aircraft out of the bank, but by his actions only increased it. After the altimeter sensor was activated, set to the minimum altitude of this landing approach stage, the co-pilot pulled the yoke sharply "towards himself", while the elevator deviated to -24° for pitching (almost to the stop). Such an intense and significant deflection of the elevator led to an increase in the normal g-force up to 2 units, the pitch angle up to 20°, bringing the aircraft to supercritical angles of attack and stalling into a flat tailspin. The plane sharply "pecked" down and rushed to the ground.

The process of the occurrence of a special situation up to a catastrophic one was fleeting (15 seconds). Short-term "recoil" by both pilots of the steering wheel "from themselves" and the transfer of engine operation to take-off mode could not ensure the aircraft's recovery from the stable mode of a flat spin. The descent of the aircraft in this mode took place from vertical speeds up to 100 m/s. and all attempts by the crew to bring the liner out of the spin and stop the descent were unsuccessful due to the lack of altitude. Flight 352 crashed into a forest clearing, broke up and burned out. All 145 people on board were killed.

The plane disappeared from the radar screen of the Irkutsk air traffic control service at 02:08 IKT (11:08 UTC). Around this time, residents of the village of Burdakovka, 22 kilometers from Irkutsk, heard a loud bang. One of the villagers called the police. Fire brigades and ambulances left for the alleged crash site. At 03:25 IKT the crash site was located. The wreckage of Flight 352 was scattered over an area of ​​10,000 m². On the morning of the same day, all three "black boxes" were found. They were sent for examination.

Cause of the disaster

The cause of the disaster was called the erroneous actions of the crew. During the landing approach, the crew could not maintain the altitude regime of 850 meters when the aircraft was in a left turn at a speed less than recommended, which forced the autopilot to deflect the elevator “to pitch” to maintain the required flight altitude, which led to an increase in the angle of attack. With a left bank of −45°, the co-pilot pulled the helm towards himself. As a result, the angle of attack increased. With a large angle of attack, much more thrust is needed than that applied by the crew. As a result, the aircraft reached supercritical angles of attack and began to lose wing lift. An emergency situation continued to develop, and after a 10 second delay, with an increase in engine thrust, controllability also disappeared. Wrong actions of the crew commander (instinctive, contrary to instructions) only aggravated this situation, as a result the plane crashed.

The last words of the crew commander - "Where is it?", unambiguously spoke about what was happening.
After the examinations, it turned out that the damage was caused by rocket shrapnel, which is used in the air defense system. The explosion occurred 15 meters from the plane, but it was enough to cause irreparable damage to it.

Versions of what happened

1. The very first version is a terrorist attack. Moreover, three weeks before that, a bloody attack on the United States was carried out, associated with the explosion of the twin towers. And the plane itself was flying from a country that is well acquainted with this evil. But unprecedented control measures are always carried out at Ben Gurion Airport and the security services assured that the imperceptible penetration of terrorists on board was excluded. At least throughout its existence air harbor no one such a case did not have.

2. Soon another explanation appeared - a technical malfunction of the aircraft or unprofessional actions of the crew. By that time, due to various malfunctions, 18 accidents occurred with the TU-154. Experts, first of all, drew attention to the weak points of the liner - turbines, fuel tanks, chassis. But after a thorough check, the version turned out to be irrelevant.

3. The plane was shot down by a S-300 missile fired by the Russian side. Supporters of this version argue that the Ukrainian S-200 air defense system could not hit the plane, since it simply would not have had enough time to reach the target. And the rocket itself needs illumination by ground equipment, which was turned off 3 minutes before the explosion of the aircraft. In addition, they refer to the words of V. Putin, who said on the day of the disaster that according to performance characteristics the launched rocket could not reach the corridor in which the ill-fated aircraft was flying.

4. The airliner was shot down by a Ukrainian missile. This version was initiated ... by the Americans. The Pentagon allegedly obtained a recording of negotiations between the Ukrainian military, on which the words "Where did this goal come from?" Then this version was actively supported by the Russian side. In particular, the head of the commission to investigate the causes of the tragedy, V. Rushailo, 10 days after the incident, announced the defeat of the airliner from the outside.

Findings from the investigation

A commission created from specialists of the Interstate Aviation Committee, which at that time included representatives of 11 CIS states, took up the study of all the circumstances of the incident. The fact of the death of the aircraft was established precisely from the S-200 missile, the diameter of the shrapnel of which corresponded to the size of the holes in the aircraft body.

As a result, the commission concluded that on that ill-fated day, the radar station, which was supposed to control the missile's flight path, was disconnected from electricity. The radial speed of the TU-154, most likely, turned out to be close to the training target. For this reason, the rocket was aimed at passenger liner erroneously overlooking the learning goal.

The organizers of the exercises did not take preventive measures to ensure the safety of firing. In particular, the corridor was "cleared" only within a radius of 50 km from the test site, although the technical range of the projectile is about 300 km. Later, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense of Ukraine, V. Tkachev, said that the facts and expert assessments testify to the possible hit of a Ukrainian missile.

In 2008, official Kyiv initiated a new investigation, which was carried out only by Ukrainian experts. It is not surprising that all charges from the Ukrainian side were dropped by this conclusion.
Litigation.

Claims against the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the State Treasury were filed by the airline in the court of the city of Kyiv back in 2004. However, the expert commission of the KNIISE, which carried out the examination on the initiative of the military department, issued a verdict that the TU-154 could not be destroyed by a Ukrainian missile. Then "Siberia" demanded that a third party be involved in the investigation, which was MAK. Its specialists, on the contrary, unequivocally noted the cause of the death of the aircraft from a hit by a S-200 missile.

Despite these circumstances, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine terminated the criminal case. In 2011, the Court of Appeal dismissed the claim of Siberia, citing the lack of a clear evidence base from the IAC.
In 2012, the Supreme Arbitration Court of Ukraine decided to refuse the Sibir company's cassation claim for damages in the amount of $15.5 million.

In 2002, an interdepartmental commission was formed to settle claims, and a year later, a corresponding agreement was signed between Russia and Ukraine. On its basis, in the period from 2003 to 2005, the government of Nezalezhnaya compensated the moral damage to the relatives of the victims in the total amount of 15.6 million dollars. However, all payments were made without a legal admission of guilt by the Ukrainian side.

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

A special commission was set up to determine the causes of the accident. An-26 of the Russian Federal Border Service urgently flew to the accident site from Gelendzhik. The patrol border ship “Vulture” also went there. Also, 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 flew to the crash site, two rescue tugboats headed for the crash - "Mercury" from Tuapse and "Captain Beklemishchev" from Novorossiysk, as well as a vessel of the Russian Emergencies Ministry "Rescuer Prokopchik". The An-12 aircraft found oil stains at the alleged crash site. Helicopters found several wreckage of the plane and the body dead passengers floating on the surface of the sea.

Versions

Technical investigation

October 5 there was information about holes found in the fuselage of the Tu-154, resembling bullet holes, but this information was called premature. Head of the West Siberian Regional Office air transport Vladimir Tasun stated that, “according to unverified information, the dispatcher on the radar saw a luminous dot rapidly approaching the aircraft. Here is the only thing obtained from unofficial sources through the channels telephone connection employees of the company "Siberia" from Rostov. On the same day, rescuers from Israel joined the Russian rescuers, and an analysis of the conversations of the Tu-154 crew and an analysis of the videotape recording the radar readings were also started. On this day, Prime Minister of Ukraine Anatoly Kinakh made a statement that the version of a missile hitting a Tu-154 aircraft of Siberia Airlines "has the right to exist."

October 6 Vladimir Rushailo, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, said that items not related to the structure of the aircraft were found at the crash site, and that "the aircraft was destroyed as a result of an explosive impact." At the same time, Ivan Teterin, head of the Main Directorate of the North Caucasian Regional Center of the EMERCOM of Russia, expressed the opinion that the probability of finding any remains of the Tu-154 aircraft at the bottom of the Black Sea is minimal due to great depth and zero visibility.

October 7th According to the commission, at 13:45:12 a ground-based tape recorder recorded the cry of the Tu-154 pilot.

October 9 According to the commission, the analysis of the holes in the fuselage shows that the aircraft could have been hit by a missile from the S-200 air defense system, since the size and shape of the holes are 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 exact location aircraft crash - the wreckage was scattered over an area with a radius of more than 12 nautical miles.

October 10 The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia announced preliminary data from a forensic medical examination of the dead - the cause of death of all 14 passengers whose bodies were found 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 dead, which indicates a fire on board the ship.

October 11 Vladimir Rushailo published the conclusion of the technical commission investigating the causes of the crash of the Tu-154 aircraft: "multiple damages in the form of similar holes indicate the defeat of the Russian aircraft from the outside." At the same time, Rushailo stressed that "the remains of the plane that crashed into the sea were not found due to the complex structure of the bottom, the aggressive sulfur-hydrogen environment and a large layer of silt - up to 6 meters."

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, admitted that the Ukrainian missile could have caused the death of the Tu-154.

October 13 Vladimir Rushailo said that according to the analysis of the wreckage of the aircraft and holes, an anti-aircraft missile exploded 15 meters above the aircraft. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine at a conference in Kyiv apologized to the families and friends of those who died as a result of 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" on the fact of the disaster passenger aircraft Tu-154 over the Black Sea. . After the publication of the commission's findings on October 16, 2001, the case was transferred to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, the Russian side officially closed the case.

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

Simultaneously with the lawsuit filed by the relatives of the victims, Siberia Airlines JSC filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the State Treasury of Ukraine for damages: the amount of claims included the market value of the destroyed aircraft with additional equipment, the costs associated with the investigation of the crash, the costs of insurance, lost profits in connection with the loss of the aircraft, and non-pecuniary damage. The consideration of the case lasted more than seven years and ended with the victory of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine: based on the additional analysis of the materials of the State Commission for Investigation conducted by the Kiev Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Examination, the claims were completely denied. On October 10, 2011, the losing party filed an appeal with the Kyiv Economic Court of Appeal.

On May 28, 2012, the Kiev Economic Court of Appeal dismissed the complaint Russian airline"Siberia" (S7 Airlines) against the decision of the court of first instance, which did not recognize 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 a powerful ground-based radar ("target illumination") serves as a radiation source, and the missile itself is guided by the signal reflected from the target. In the S-200, there are two main modes of operation of the target illumination radar - MHI (monochromatic radiation) and FCM (phase code modulation). MHI mode is commonly used for scanning airspace when searching for targets, the elevation angle, azimuth and radial velocity of the target are determined, but there is no determination of the range to the target. The range is determined in the FKM mode, but switching the radar to this mode takes up to 30 seconds and may not be performed if there is not enough time.

It is most probable that during the training firing with the participation of the Ukrainian air defense, which was carried out on October 4, 2001 at Cape Opuk in the Crimea, the Ty-154 aircraft accidentally ended up in the center of the supposed 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 system radar and taken as a training target. In the conditions of lack of time and nervousness caused by the presence of the high command and foreign guests, the S-200 operator did not determine the range to the target and "highlighted" the Tu-154 (which was at a distance 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 a missile missing a training target (as is sometimes claimed), but of the S-200 operator clearly aiming the missile at an erroneously identified target. The calculation of the complex did not assume the possibility of such an outcome of the shooting and did not take measures to prevent it. The dimensions of the range did not ensure the safety of firing air defense systems of such a range. The necessary measures to free the airspace were not taken by the organizers of the firing.

terrorist attack

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

The reaction of the highest officials of the states affected by the plane crash

Russia

Ukraine

Israel

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

When the victim is not a member of your people, then perhaps it is possible to make such academic inferences. 78 people died, most of them Israelis - for us this is the greatest tragedy.

The 16th episode of the series "Aerobatics" (Russia, 2009) contains references to the described disaster: the Russian Il-86 aircraft was flying from Tel Aviv to Moscow, got into the zone of Ukrainian air defense training firing over the Black Sea and was shot down from the S-200 air defense system (in the film, however, the plane managed to land 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 | Help | News feed "RIA Novosti"
3. "The crash of the Tu-154 aircraft in the Black Sea occurred due to a terrorist attack"
4. Tu-154 plane crash in the Black Sea
5. Chronicle of tragedy
6. Western media report that the TU-154 aircraft was shot down by a missile from the territory of Ukraine
7. Tu-154 was shot down by a Ukrainian missile?
8. In search of the Ukrainian trace
9. No bullet holes found on Tu-154 fuselage - News NEWSru.com
10. There is practically no hope for Triton
11. “The cause of the death of the passengers of the TU-154 was barotrauma”
12. “Secretary of the Russian Security Council Vladimir Rushailo told journalists the conclusion of the technical commission. ... "
13. “Conclusion of the commission investigating the death of TU-154: “the aircraft was hit from the outside””
14. News NEWSru.com:: Experts deny that the Russian Tu-154, which crashed in the Black Sea in 2001, was shot down by a Ukrainian missile
15. Experts deny the defeat of a Russian aircraft by a Ukrainian missile in 2001 // RIANovosti Ukraine.
16. Ukraine sees no reason to initiate proceedings over the Tu-154 crash
17. Investigation is over, forget it
18. The Prosecutor General's Office again took 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 reopen the case of the Tu-154 crash
20. Economic court of Kyiv dismissed 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 downed Tu-154 in 2001 was appealed
23. The Ukrainian military is not involved in the emergency 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.
25. How the Tu-154 of Siberia Airlines was made a target in the Ukrainian shooting range

On October 4, 2001, exactly 16 years ago, Ukraine shot down a Russian passenger plane Tu-154M of Siberia Airlines, flying from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, over the Black Sea. Everyone on board died.

The catastrophe over the Black Sea, which was forgotten over the years, as a result of which 78 people died on the Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk flight, has not yet found its logical conclusion. Having admitted its guilt, Ukraine did not pay compensation to the Russian airline Sibir in the amount of $15 million, limiting itself to paying $200,000 for each dead Israeli and Russian. Shot down, shot down, but we will not answer in full - this is in the style of the current policy of Kyiv.

Scheduled flight SBI1812 on the route Tel Aviv - Novosibirsk, operated on the morning of October 4, 2001 from David Ben Gurion Airport to Tolmachevo Airport, was interrupted after 1 hour and 45 minutes of flight. The liner was at an altitude of 11 thousand meters and was about to start descending at the airport in Sochi, where intermediate refueling was to take place. Before landing in Russian resort town there were about 200 kilometers left when the crew recorded the fact that their aircraft had hit the missile’s sight and managed to send several signals on the air with an alarm button. It was no longer possible to deviate from the damaging effect of a missile rushing to intercept - the pilots only had time to notice that they were being attacked.

As you know, it was at this time that Ukrainian air defense exercises were held on the territory of Cape Opuk in Crimea, which were attended, among other things, by foreign observers. Shooting at training air targets was carried out, including from the S-200V complexes, the missile of which mistakenly hit a civilian ship.

“Malignant intent in the downed Tu-154 over the Black Sea in 2001 is difficult to assume, rather it was not,” says military expert Vladislav Shurygin. - Then there was no such amount of negativity in the minds of Ukrainian citizens in relation to the Russians. Moreover, it was international flight, on board the aircraft were mostly Israeli citizens and Ukraine would not risk running into such a major scandal that it could not get out of. The reason seems to be different - by that time, graduates of specialized military schools had not entered the Air Defense Forces of Ukraine for ten years, and many of the current officers either quit or left for Russia. Most likely, the operator of the S-200V complex was simply not professionally trained enough, plus he was under psychological pressure from high authorities, who demanded to show skill in the eyes of foreign observers. All this could lead to the fact that instead of the training target, which was 60 kilometers away, the operator aimed the missile at a target that was 250-300 kilometers away - he mixed it up! The main thing was to make the launch faster and show the dashing of the Ukrainian PVEs. The result is known."

After the catastrophe, Kyiv immediately went into "non-consciousness" and for a long time denied participation in the tragedy of its rocket.

“Tragedies when a civilian aircraft becomes a victim of the military (for various reasons) are not so rare,” says media consultant Alexander Zimovsky. - In such cases, there is an iron rule: deny everything. In addition, the great powers can afford one more liberties. Justify the destruction of a civilian aircraft by recognizing it as a military incident. This is how Americans behave. Remember the Iranian Airbus that was shot down by a missile from the American cruiser Vincennes? Then 290 people died, the commander of the ship received an order.

Ukraine, as a third-rate country, cannot afford such a luxury. Therefore, in the case of the destruction of the Tu-154 over the Black Sea in 2001, Kyiv went into complete "unconsciousness". I am well aware of all the circumstances of the tragedy, because in 2001 our television company reported that a Ukrainian air defense system had shot down a passenger plane during firing in Crimea. I myself curated this special news release, and conducted fact-checking based on data from American tracking and warning systems. They immediately and without hesitation pointed to the Ukrainian origin of the rocket that shot down the plane that took off from Tel Aviv.

In the future, the Ukrainian generals and officials went into denial. But then, in the first few hours, out of fear, almost all those involved on the Ukrainian side did not dispute the incident in any way. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recognized both the fact of the exercises, and the very conduct of firing in the indicated area, and the loss of control over the fired missile by the combat crew of the air defense system. And even the command of the Minister of Defense Kuzmuk to the commander of the air defense system, who expressed doubts about the captured target, was even preserved in Ukrainian military folklore: “Shoot him down on x ..!”. Two weeks later, Kuzmuk was removed from his post.

On that fateful day, at the Opuk training ground, a show was staged for President Kuchma. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, General of the Army Kuzmuk, conducted himself, with him were the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense of Ukraine, Colonel General Vladimir Tkachev and his deputy for combat training, Lieutenant General Vladimir Dyakov, commander of the 49th Ukrainian Corps, Lieutenant General Kalinyuk. Kuchma was saved only by the fact that he “fell ill” the day before (this often happened to him), and did not arrive at the training ground. However, he never denied either the incident itself or Ukraine's guilt in what happened. Even if with an indispensable clause about the accident of the tragedy.

Then, following the results of an official investigation of the tragedy in the sky over the Black Sea, many high-ranking military personnel who, even if indirectly, were resigned Russian aircraft. At the same time, none of them was put on trial - everyone got off with a censure. Moreover, all this time Ukraine has been putting forward and is putting forward versions of its non-involvement in the incident and, despite the results of the investigations, is “pushing through” the version of an internal explosion on board a civil aircraft. And even today, on the next anniversary, no one in Kyiv remembers that terrible tragedy- such "accuracy" of Ukrainian air defense is clearly not held in high esteem today.

The death of a passenger Boeing over the Donbass in the summer of 2014 was far from the first case of destruction passenger airliner air defense means. The most notorious of these disasters was the death of a South Korean Boeing, shot down Soviet fighter over the Tatar Strait in 1983, and the destruction by the US military of an Iranian A-300 airliner over the Persian Gulf in 1988.

In the shadow of these cases, there remains a tragedy that happened at a time when cold war” managed to forget, and a new round of confrontation was still ahead.

In the autumn of 2001, immediately after the September 11 attacks, the world seemed to rally in a single impulse to fight international terrorism. The events that unfolded in the skies over the Black Sea on October 4, 2001 were also initially perceived as an attack by extremists. However, as was later established, they had a completely different nature.

On the morning of October 4, 2001 from International Airport named after David Ben-Gurion in Israel flew Tu-154M with tail number RA-85693. The plane, which belonged to the Russian airline Siberia, was operating flight SBI 1812 on the Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk route. On board were 66 passengers and 12 crew members.

The flight went smoothly until 13:45 Moscow time. At that moment, the Tu-154 disappeared from the radar screens. The plane was at an altitude of 11,000 meters, about 200 kilometers southwest of Sochi.

Almost immediately, the dispatchers received a message from the Armavia An-24 located in the same area. The pilot reported that he had observed a bright flash at a higher flight level.

“There is no reason not to trust the Ukrainian side”

After that, there was practically no doubt that a catastrophe had occurred. Rescue ships came out to the place of the alleged crash in the Black Sea, as well as planes of the Ministry of Defense and the Federal Border Service.

On the surface of the water found the wreckage of the Tu-154 and the body dead people. Wherein most of aircraft structures, as well as the remains of the dead, went to the bottom.

In the place where the Russian plane crashed, the depth of the Black Sea exceeds 2000 meters, and the bottom is heavily silted. In the future, this fact will play an important role in this story.

By the time of the Tu-154 crash, less than a month had passed since the terrorist attack on New York. In addition, the plane was flying from Tel Aviv, so the version of the bomb on board immediately arose.

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 missile from the Ukrainian air defense system S-200, launched during military exercises.

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

“Firstly, all the 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, ”said on the day of the disaster Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Where did you go?!"

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in turn, confirmed that training firing of anti-aircraft systems was indeed carried out at the firing range at Cape Opuk, during which 23 missiles were fired. The exercises were attended by representatives of Russia and other states. It was confirmed that the S-200 complex was also used, however, it was argued that it could not hit the Tu-154 of Siberia Airlines in any way.

However, on October 5 Prime Minister of Ukraine Anatoly Kinakh stated that the version of the rocket hitting the plane "has the right to exist."

Israeli experts also worked together with Russian specialists. Special attention attracted 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. During the following seconds, the button external communication pressed several more times, due to which noise and screams on board were recorded. It was possible to make out the phrase “Where did it go ?!”, which was shouted by one of the pilots.

On October 9, a representative of the commission for the investigation of the disaster stated: an analysis of the holes in the fuselage showed that the aircraft could have been hit by a missile from the S-200 air defense system, since the size and shape of the holes are consistent with the shrapnel of the high-explosive fragmentation warhead of the missile of this particular complex .

"We are not the first and not the last"

By this time, the rescuers reported that it was unlikely that it would be possible to raise the main part of the fuselage from the bottom - at the silted bottom at a depth of two kilometers, visibility was almost zero, and it was almost impossible to carry out work.

October 10 Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky stated that a forensic examination of the bodies recovered from the water showed that all the victims died from barotrauma. This meant that the liner rapidly collapsed on high altitude. The presence of carbon monoxide in the blood of the dead 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 President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, does he agree with the conclusions Russian experts. The President replied that he would accept the conclusions that the joint working group would finally approve.

Kuchma did not stop there and uttered the words that went down in history: “Look what is happening around the world, in Europe ... we are not the first and not the last, there is no need to make a tragedy out of this. Mistakes 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 are welcome.

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

Wrong "backlight"

The final conclusion of the Interstate Aviation Committee stated that the plane was inadvertently shot down by a Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missile launched during military exercises in Crimea.

The S-200 anti-aircraft missile system uses a semi-active guidance system, when a powerful ground-based radar ("target illumination") serves as a source of radiation and the missile is guided by the signal reflected from the target.

During the exercises on October 4, 2001, 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 system radar and taken as a training target.

The operator of the S-200 complex, who worked in the presence of high-ranking officers from several countries, got nervous and, instead of an inconspicuous training target, “highlighted” the passenger Tu-154. At the same time, the airliner ended up in a zone that was not declared prohibited during firing and in which the S-200 missile, due to its characteristics, could hit the target.

In twenty days Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Kuzmuk was retired. A number of Ukrainian generals and colonels were dismissed from service or demoted in ranks, but the official linking of these personnel decisions to death Russian airliner did not have.

Unlike the investigation into the downing of the MH-17 flight 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 data collected was enough to win the case against Ukraine in the international court.

Compensation without admission of guilt

However, at that time, the top leadership of Russia felt that the matter should be settled amicably. Moreover, Ukraine expressed an open desire for this.

On December 26, 2003, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement "On the Settlement of Claims", according to which 7.8 million dollars were transferred to pay the relatives of the dead Russian passengers. Ukraine signed a similar agreement with Israel, to which 7.5 million dollars were paid.

Compensation was paid ex gratia, that is, without recognition of legal liability. Thus, Israel and Russia agreed that Ukraine would save face by not admitting guilt for the destruction of the Tu-154 officially.

In September 2004, the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine closed the criminal case on the fact of 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 the exercises of the Ukrainian air defense forces.

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

It's Putin's fault

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

Especially for such persistent ones, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine ordered an examination in 2008, which declared the conclusions of the IAC untenable. 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 be located both outside and inside the liner, in particular, it could be an explosive device placed "between the ceiling of the inner part of the aircraft" and its outer shell.

On the basis of this conclusion, in 2011 the Kyiv Economic Court rejected a $15 million lawsuit 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 an air defense error had taken place, but the culprits were not Ukrainian, but Russian military.

Especially actively this version began to be exaggerated after February 2014, and especially after the death of the Boeing over the Donbass.

According to this version, the Tu-154 was allegedly shot down by the S-300 complex, which belonged to Russian army. After that, 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” for certain financial preferences.

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

All this could have been avoided if Russia in the early 2000s had no illusions about maintaining good-neighborly relations with Ukraine, for the sake of which, in fact, the agreement “On the Settlement of Claims” was concluded in 2003. But what's done is done.

Most of those who lost their loved ones on October 4, 2001 cannot come to their graves - the bottom of the Black Sea has become a resting place for passengers and crew members of the Tu-154. And Ukrainian “experts”, journalists and politicians have been mocking the memory of the dead for a decade and a half. But, on the advice of President Kuchma - "do not make a tragedy out of this."