Leonid Kuchma, Alexander Kuzmuk

The UNIAN archive. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, right, and Defense Minister Alexander Kuzmuk during the field shooting on the military ground not far from Novograd-Volynski on Saturday, Oct 21, 2001. On Thursday, Oct 11, 2001 Ukrainian President declared that he did not take on the Kuzmuk’s retirement. According to Kuchma, “he, being the Ukrainian President and Commander-in-chief, did not desert people and is not going to do this”. On Oct 4 the Tu-154 transporting 78 people blew up in the air for unknown reasons. The foreign Mass Media expressed supposition that the aircraft was shaken down the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense that held training in Crimea this day. From the moment of the accident the Ukraine Defense Ministry several time categorically denied the implication of Ukrainian servicemen to the catastrophe. Starting from Oct 1, a group of Ukrainian and Russian experts works in Sochi, examining the reasons of the catastrophe. Photo by UNIAN