A Missile Scandal
Ukraine is once again at the center of a weapons scandal. This time the scandal seems to be of a genuine, not propagandistic, nature. Prosecutor-General Sviatoslav Piskun admitted to the British daily Financial Times that Ukraine sold 12 X-55 cruise missiles, also known as AS-15, to Iran and 6 to China. According to him, a total 18 missiles of this type were exported in 2001.
Although Mr. Piskun claims that none of the exported missiles were equipped with nuclear warheads, Japan and the US have already expressed concern over the leak of missile technology from the former USSR’s arsenal, which Ukraine has now officially admitted for the first time. In particular, Japan fears it could be vulnerable to a strike if the Ukrainian nuclear- capable missiles fall into the hands of the North Koreans. The X-55 has a range of 3,000 km, enough to put Japan within striking range of the Asian continent or to reach Israel from Iran, the newspaper notes. The US embassy in Kyiv said it is “closely monitoring” the investigation and wants the findings of a secret trial made public. Japan’s ambassador to Ukraine, Kishichiro Amae, is hoping that the new government of Ukraine will explain this incident. “If the investigation is kept secret, the new government will forfeit the international community’s trust,” said Mr. Amae in the Financial Times.
At the same time, the Prosecutor-General’s Office has already denied allegations that Ukraine sold the cruise missiles. The office’s press service claims that Mr. Piskun told the Financial Times that the missiles were smuggled out of Ukraine, not officially exported. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has instituted criminal proceedings against V. Yevdokimov, manager of the Ukraviazamovlennia (Ukrainian Aviation Contracts) company, on charges of smuggling contraband, the press service says. This information was in fact confirmed to Interfax-Ukraine by the State Export Control Service of Ukraine. The interviewee told the news agency that the export control service had not given permission to sell any arms, including long-range cruise missiles, to Iran and China in 2001, which was brought to the attention of the agencies now checking the illegal shipments. The Prosecutor-General’s Office press service says the Kyiv Court of Appeals has been hearing this criminal case in camera since August 3, 2004 (?). The SBU has also placed two other accessories to the crime, citizens of Russia, on its most-wanted list, while a court has authorized their arrest. Another Russian citizen was apprehended last year by the National Central Bureau of Interpol in the Czech Republic, which is now considering his extradition to Ukraine.
It will be recalled that in his interview Mr. Piskun in fact confirmed the claim made by MP Hryhoriy Omelchenko, who last month said that Ukraine had sold long-range missiles to Iran and China. The MP accused some officials from former president Leonid Kuchma’s team of hushing up the evidence uncovered by the SBU in order to protect “a highly-placed person from President Kuchma’s entourage, implicated in the illegal arms sale.” According to Mr. Omelchenko, the deal was made when Leonid Derkach was the head of the SBU. In a press comment on March 18, the MP said he was sure this admission would not trigger a negative international reaction. “Ukraine has excised this malignant tumor on its own, arrested the guilty, placed on Interpol’s most-wanted list a number of direct participants in this plot to smuggle contraband, including some citizens of Russia. It is sound from the political and legal viewpoint that the Security Service of Ukraine under Ihor Smeshko also took the unprecedented step of investigating this case. Sooner or later, this would have been revealed one way or another, but now Ukraine has shown that we are clearing ourselves of such things,” he said. At the same time, the MP blamed Mr. Piskun for populism aimed at continuing to hold on to the office of Prosecutor-General. “When I hear the Prosecutor-General vehemently stating that his office uncovered the illegal sale of cruise missiles to China and Iran, I feel sad and funny at the same time. We repeatedly informed the Prosecutor- General’s Office, the Security Service of Ukraine, and President Kuchma about these facts back in 1999-2002. And when Mr. Piskun took over from Mykhailo Potebenko, those parliamentary queries had already been addressed to the Prosecutor-General’s Office,” Mr. Omelchenko said.
The MP claims he kept receiving “perfunctory replies” all this time, such as “your information cannot be confirmed.” “A similar response came from the Prosecutor-General’s Office during Mr. Piskun’s first stint, signed by one of his deputies,” he added.
Last Friday, as were going to press, the Prosecutor-General’s Office issued an important statement. The office’s press service announced, “The mass media have reported, quoting FT correspondent Tom Warner that Ukraine has admitted exporting 12 cruise missiles to Iran and 6 to China in 2001, which Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General Sviatoslav Piskun allegedly confirmed in an interview. In reality, this interview was about the smuggling, not export, of missiles, in which connection the Security Service of Ukraine has instituted criminal proceedings against V. Yevdokimov, manager of the Ukraviazamovlennia company,” the statement says. The press service also announced that this criminal case has been under in camera investigation by the Kyiv Court of Appeals since August 3 of last year. The SBU has also put two other accomplices to this crime, citizens of Russia O. and Sh., on the most-wanted list, and a court has issued an arrest warrant for these individuals. This statement is important in that in contravention of Ukraine’s international commitments, the delivery of missiles was a criminal act of smuggling contraband, rather than governmental policy. It is also a fact, however, that the smugglers were people who held high governmental posts. Still, this isolated incident is by no means a private affair.
