Criminal Proceedings concerning crash of TU-154, brought down by Ukrainian rocket over Black Sea, to be resumed in Russia?

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office will within a month consider a claim of the TU-154 passengers' relatives to resume criminal proceedings concerning this catastrophe. The TU-154 was brought down by a Ukrainian rocket on October 4th, 2001, over the Black Sea, Chairman of the Foundation set up to help the victims' families Boris Kalinovsky has reported. A package of documents containing the relatives' claim was sent to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office last week, he said.

During the investigation of the cause of the TU-154 crash, conducted by investigators from the Russian Prosecutor's Office and specialists from the Interstate Aviation Committee, it was established that the plane had been brought down by a Ukrainian air defence rocket, which deviated from the set course. That day the Ukrainian air defence was conducting exercises over the Black Sea. The liner carried 66 passengers and 12 crewmembers, which all were killed in the crash.

At the end of December 2001, the criminal case concerning the crash was sent to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, while in Russia the criminal proceedings were stopped.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has not taken any measures ever since or brought any charges against anyone," said the Chairman of the Foundation set up to help the victim's families.

The murder of the plane's innocent passengers happened on Russian territory with the "Sibir" plane being a part of it," Kalininovsky pointed out. He believes that if the Russian Prosecutor General's Office meets the claim of the dead passengers' relatives and resumes criminal proceedings, it will be more difficult for Ukraine to avoid the responsibility and conceal the guilty."