Ukraine's President Leonld Kuchma fired the chief of the country's air defense forces over the October downing of Russian passenger plane by a Ukrainian missiles, the Presidential press service said. The Sibir Airlines TU-154 crashed Oct. 4 into the Black Sea, killing all 78 people onboard. Russian investigators concluded that the plane was downed by a Ukrainian S-200 missile launched during military exercise in the Crimean Peninsula.
Kuchma fired AI defenses chief Volodymyr Tkachov, a spokesman for the presidential administration said. Earlier in October, the President dismissed defense minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk, delivered apologies to victims' families and ordered a halt to all missile launches until a Ukrainian government commission completes its investigation. That investigation is expected to be completed by Nov 20. Also, Kuchma introduced the new defense minister Volodymyr Shkidehenko to the country's top defence officials at a government meeting, where the president discussed the army's current shape and defined its development tasks for 2002.
Shkidchenkio, 53, was Kuzmuk's deputy and chief of the army's general headquarters. He was responsible for the country's defense reform. Shkidchenko is also a son of the Russian Lieutenant-General Peter Shkidchenok, who was killed in Afghanistan and was posthumously awarded the hero of Russian medal last year by Russia's President Vladimir Putin, the Segodnya Daily said.
Bureau Report