HISTORY

The wreck of Krasnoyartsev’s Su-34 shot down near

Chernihiv on March 5.

Major Alexander Krasnoyartsev is officially suspected

of war crimes.

as they are fired from Tu-22M bombers. The

missiles were developed in the beginning of

1960s primarily for anti-ship attacks. These

Kh-22 were guided by radar. They can also be

launched against the ground targets, but they

are vastly inaccurate in this role therefore

the nuclear warhead was considered. Kh-22

weighs almost 6 tons out of which 1 ton is for

the warhead.

The range is 600 km and at the diving attack

from the high altitude (as high as 27 km)

the missile’s speed can reach M=4.6. Kh-22

deployment in Ukraine is the very first combat use of these 60 years old rockets. In the

past the guidance system modernization,

same as with Kh-32, was considered it is

questionable if this can be achieved under

the current conditions in Russia. Rather poor

results in Ukraine indicate that probably not.

Kh-59 missiles, dating back to the 1980s, are

being used more frequently. The long-term

storage impacted their accuracy negatively

and as much as 60 % of them fail and miss

the target. Either the engine does not even

start or the data transmission system, a key

factor of its application, does not work. In its

final flight stage, the Kh-59 missile is guided

by a television system operated from the

aircraft. This Russian tactic means that the

air combat and shooting down of the aircraft

takes place very sporadically.

From April 16 to May 16 the Ukrainian air defense mostly destroyed the cruise missiles

and reconnaissance drones. Only two Ka-52

and two Mi-28 were shot down. In addition,

on April 25 and 26 two Su-34 fighter-bombers were shot down. And as mentioned earlier one Mi-8 helicopter was destroyed on

Snake Island.

During this period, in addition to the drones

the Ukrainians, lost three aircraft. An-26

crashed in the Zaporozhye area. The cause

was a dense fog. Out of three crew members one aviator was killed and the other two

were wounded. On May 7, during the combat

mission a Ukrainian Navy Mi-14 helicopter

was shot down by a Russian fighter. The Colonel of the Ukrainian Naval Air Force, Igor

Bedzay was killed. He was buried in Mykolaiv

on May 15. On May 14, in Zaporozhye area Su25 from 299th Tactical Ai Brigade was shot

down. Its pilot, Captain Serhiy Parkhomenko

was killed. He was buried in Vinnytsia in the

west of Ukraine. Despite the considerable

Office indicted Su-34 pilot, Major Alexander

Krasnoyartsev of the war crimes. We spoke

about his shooting down and capture in the

first part of this series.

Previously Major Krasnoyartsev served in

Syria. On March 5 he took off from the Seshscha base in the Bryansk area for his third

mission in the Ukrainian conflict. On his first

two sorties he attacked a military airport in

the Kiev area and the roads south of Chernihiv. On his third sortie he carried six FAB-500

unguided bombs to attack the living quarters

in Chernihiv. That's why he is suspected of

committing war crimes. He is also suspected

of a deliberate murder. His Su-34 was hit by

an AA defense. Both crew members ejected

but Captain Konstantin Krivolapov did not

survive. Major Krasnoyartsev parachuted

on the roof of a house. There were people

standing behind the fence yelling at him: “Russian, come out!” However, he attempted to

escape through a neighboring backyard. The

Ukrainian civilian, Vitaly Serhiyenko, pursued

to apprehend him. The Russian pilot shot several rounds at him from his Makarov pistol.

Serhiyanko died on the spot. Later on Krasnoyartsev was captured by the Ukrainian

soldiers. Now he’s facing a life sentence.

30

INFO Eduard

A parachute on the roof of the house where

Krasnoyartsev landed after he was shot down.

cloudiness a pair of Su-27 circled above the

burial ceremony. It is interesting that in Russia, a day before on May 9, the Red Square

parade’s air show was canceled. The official

reason was bad weather. As opposed to Vinnytsia there was a clear and blue sky above

Moscow. The real reason was most probably

something else.

War crimes trial

In the meantime, on Friday May 13 the first

trial with a Russian armed forces soldier

started in Ukraine for committing the war crime. Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin is accused

of shooting to death a 62-year old civilian in

Suma area in the end of February. In the end

of April the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s

Major Krasnoyartsev (on the right) with Putin and Assad in Syria.

June 2022