Five out of eight members of Ukrainian AN-30 aircraft crew were killed on June 6 while on patrol near the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast.
It became the third aircraft shot down by Kremlin-backed insurgents during the two-month anti-terrorist operation undertaken by Ukraine’s government.
The deaths increased the death toll to at least 66 Ukrainian servicemen.
The crew was deployed to Sloviansk only three days earlier. Three members of the crew are currently undergoing treatment in one of Kharkiv’s hospitals.
Military officials say Russian-backed gunmen used portable air-defense systems called Verba to shoot down the aircraft, according to Yuriy Andrienko, one of Ukraine’s armed forces chiefs.
All the victims were from Boryspil in Kyiv Oblast. “Our compatriots died for our peaceful future,” Mykola Ivanovych of Boryspil was quoted as saying.
Here are the five killed:
Kostyantyn Mohylko, 36, air squadron commander. Mohylko’s comrades recalled he was fearless and cheerful. When the plane was shot, Mohylko tried to land the burning plane outside the city. While it cost him his life, three members of his crew survived.
Oleksiy Potapenko, 36, the crew’s flight engineer. Potapenko leaves a 12-year old son.
Serhiy Kaminskiy, 38, aerial survey operator.
Volodymyr Momot, 40, pilot radio operator.
Pavlo Drashlyuk, 41, crew’s flight engineer.
Kyiv Post staff write can be reached at [email protected]
