Will Ukraine pay damages for shot-down Russian jet?

The Russian side wants to try and protect the interests of relatives of the people killed in the Tu-154M jet crash without resorting to legal proceedings, Roman Kolodkin, a deputy Chairman of a Russian interdepartmental commission, told the families of passengers of the Russian jet, which was brought down by a Ukrainian missile on October 4th, 2001.

Russia is engrossed in an all-out effort to settle all problems without referring them to court, stressed Kolodkin.

The commission responsible for settling the situation that followed the bringing down of the Russian Tu-154M civil jet was set up by order of the Russian government and is meant to protect the interests of the victims' families, who had lived though a devastating shock, and their natural right to compensation for moral damage and material losses brought about by the death of their relatives.

In the meantime, Boris Kalinovsky, the President of the Victims' Families Relief Fund, has reported that similar commissions were set up in Israel and Ukraine. The task facing them is to make a final estimate of damages that will be paid out to Russian citizens, Russian state authorities, and legal entities in accordance with international law and practice of settling similar incidents.

The Novosibirsk-bound Tu-154M was brought down by a missile launched during an exercise involving Ukrainian air defence troops. On board the liner were 66 passengers, mainly Israelis, and 12 crew.