The Russian pursuit plane SU-24M

The UNIAN Archive. The Russian pursuit plane SU-24M. It is planed, that starting from January 18, 2000, the first planes SU-24M will fly from Anapa (Russia) to the Simferopol-based airport "Gvardeysky". Those planes are to replace the 22 planes CU-17, which enter the 43rd naval fighter squadron of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The basic deference of the SU-24M from the SU-17 is that the first one can carry the nuclear weapon on the board. The negotiations about the replacing of the planes was not finished, as Ukraine wanted to preserve its anti-nuclear status. The Ukrainian Military Headquarters required the immediate dismantling of the device, which carries the nuclear weapon, as well as inspection of the plane equipment by the Ukrainian side and guarantees that the plane will not be used in the war regions, in particular, in the Caucasus. The final decision was passed only thanks to the telephone negotiations between Vladimir Putin, acting as Russian President and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. Photo by Georgy Nesterenko/ UNIAN