KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A government delegation left Tuesday for Israel to settle compensation issues stemming from the downing of an airliner by a Ukrainian missile. All 78 people aboard the Sibir Airlines Tu-154 were killed when it crashed into the Black Sea on Oct. 4 on its way from Israel to Novosibirsk, Russia. Most of the victims were recent Russian emigrants to Israel.
The plane was hit by an S-200 missile fired from the Crimean Peninsula during training exercises by Ukraine’s military. The delegation is led by Oleksandr Chaly, deputy head of the government commission investigating the crash, and includes Finance Ministry representatives, a spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign service Ihor Dolhov said. Following the crash, President Leonid Kuchma promised compensation to the victims’ families. He also fired top defense officials, ordered all Ukrainian missiles to be checked, and banned missile launches until the accident investigation was completed.
