The General Staff of the Ukrainian army on Sunday announced the shooting down of a Russian Su-25 fighter over the Luhansk region, stating that the pilot did not manage to eject. According to the staff, the plane was to be destroyed near the town of Popasna, where the toughest battles are taking place.
One of Botashev’s former colleagues confirmed that the Major General was performing tasks in Ukraine on board this aircraft. Shortly before his death, Major General reached the age of 63.
Botashev belonged to the highest class according to the classification of Russian military pilots. The training of these pilots takes about ten to twelve years and, according to earlier information from the RIA Novosti agency, costs about eight million dollars (about 184 million crowns), the BBC said.
“I just wanted to fly”
Botashev’s career was accompanied by overstepping, which even led him to court. In June 2012, he was accused of an Su-27 fighter accident near Petrozavodsk. Novaya Gazeta’s paper at the time stated that the general had asked his colonel’s friend to fly with him in the fighter, even though Botashev himself did not have permission to do so. During the flight, he was to attempt aerial acrobatics, but he lost control of the machine and fell to the ground. The pilots ejected.
“I just wanted to fly with a fighter of this type. I did not expect such an aircraft to have its own characteristics, “Botashev said in court. Subsequently, it also became clear that Botashev had committed a similar offense in the past, in 2011, when he flew a Su-34 without permission.
The court subsequently found him guilty of the accident, the major general left on parole and fined five million rubles, the BBC said. He then worked in the Leningrad region as a deputy chairman of an organization that cooperates with the Russian army.
–
It is not clear why the retired general found himself in a Su-25 fighter in Ukraine. But his former subordinates believe he “simply couldn’t stay away.”
Botashev is the highest-ranking member of the Russian Air Force, whose death in Ukraine has come to light. His personal involvement in the fighting may indicate either that Moscow is facing difficult tasks for army pilots or that it lacks highly qualified specialists, the BBC outlines.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, more than two hundred Russian military aircraft have been shot down since the beginning of the fighting. The deaths of two Russian generals in Ukraine have been confirmed so far, and the deaths of another six have not been verified.
–
