The Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine acquitted former Chief of Staff First, Deputy Head of the Anti-Terrorist Operation, Major General of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Nazarov, whose negligence, according to the investigation, led to the crash of the Il-76 plane in 2014 and the deaths of 49 Ukrainian servicemen.
According to the press service of the Supreme Court on Friday, the Cassation Court overturned the court decisions and closed criminal proceedings due to the absence of corpus delicti in the act of V.M. Nazarov.
“The decision of the Cassation Court is motivated by the fact that, on the basis of the factual circumstances of the case established by the courts, their conclusion that Nazarov was able to prevent a terrorist act, as a result of which an Il-76-MD aircraft was shot down and 49 servicemen of the Armed Forces Ukraine died, is wrong,” the report said.
As reported, on the night of June 14, 2014, a military transport aircraft of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Il-76 was shot down by a shot from an anti-aircraft missile system while landing at an airfield in Luhansk. There were 40 Ukrainian servicemen and 9 crew members on board. They all died.
The Verkhovna Rada created a Temporary Commission of Inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the downing of the Il-76 aircraft. Nazarov was handed a suspicion of official negligence, which led to the death of 49 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during their redeployment by an Il-76 military transport aircraft to Luhansk. In March 2017, Nazarov was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison.
On December 16, 2020, Dnipro Court of Appeal upheld Nazarov’s verdict, however, he was not taken into custody, and the execution of the verdict was suspended in connection with the filing of a complaint with the Supreme Court.
On January 11, 2021, a joint statement was made public, which was signed by former U.S. ambassadors, authoritative generals and experts. They called on the Ukrainian leadership to reconsider the sentencing decision for General Viktor Nazarov.
On May 17, the Cassation Court within the Supreme Court began consideration of criminal proceedings against the former Chief of Staff, First Deputy Head of the Anti-Terrorist Operation, Major General of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Nazarov.
