Blushing Again?

The events of October 4 last, when a Ukrainian missile hit the Russian Sibir Airline Tu-154 passenger plane over the Black Sea, claiming 78 lives, are again in the limelight: this time in Moscow. A protest rally attended by about 400 people, as estimated by Moscow police, has been held outside the Ukrainian Embassy in Russia. The action was organized by the Marching Together all-Russian youth organization in protest “against the cynicism of Ukrainian authorities in their assessment of the tragedy and attitude toward the relatives of those killed in the air crash,” Interfax-Ukraine reports. According to Marching Together spokesman Denis Zaitsev, the action was intended to call on the Ukrainian “government to pay at last the compensations due to the families of those killed and to punish those guilty of what happened.” Oleksandr Bilyk, press secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine in Russia, told The Day that this was the first action over the consequences of the tragedy, when the Tu-154 was downed by the Ukrainian military last year, and that the rally participants lodged no written petitions to the embassy. The protest itself was short-lived: “they raised some uproar for fifteen or twenty minutes and went away.” The Embassy of Ukraine in Russia informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine about what happened, the diplomat said. Mr. Bilyk also noted that Marching Together had recently burned in public allegedly pornographic books by writer Sorokin.

Interfax-Ukraine quotes the Ukrainian Prime Minister’s spokesman Serhiy Nahoriansky as saying that Ukrainian experts are continuing to consult with their Russian and Israeli counterparts (most of those killed in the tragedy were Israeli citizens) about the dates and amounts of compensation to be paid to the families of those who died in the Tu-154 crash over the Black Sea. According to Mr. Nahoriansky, this was caused by the complicated and serious nature of the documents being drawn up. Mr. Nahoriansky assured the news agency this is a typical worldwide situation that arises when an air crash case is investigated. He added that the Ukrainian side is taking all measures to solve in the civilized vein all the problems related to the payment of compensation to the families of those who perished as well as to settle the case out of court.

Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Serhiy Borodenkov announced that the pause in the talks with Russia occurred because it took some more time to set up a Moscow-based interdepartmental commission to settle matters connected with the crash. Mr. Borodenkov also said that Ukraine has information that such a commission was set up on instructions of the Russian government on June 21, 2002, which inspires hope that Russia will furnish all the required information soon. Ukraine, in his words, has repeatedly confirmed its readiness to settle the problems the crash brought about, including those of compensation. Now, Mr. Borodenkov believes, we can also expect a reaction to the previous Ukrainian proposals on the solution of the compensation problem. All this will make it possible to hold the next round of international consultations.

It is a moot question whether Ukraine will manage to avert a court action. As far as is known, relatives of the dead passengers have already filed 27 suits against the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Some of them went to the Sikoylo, Matveyev, Gabasov, and Partners law firm which represents the interests of the dead in Ukraine. Relatives of the dead Tu-154 crew members have lodged twelve suits against the Ukrainian military in Kyiv. It is known that Ukraine suggested paying $20,000 in compensation to the relatives of each dead passenger, while relatives of the dead crew demand that $100,000 be paid for each.

It is also noteworthy that neither the government of Israel (with most dead passengers being Israeli citizens) nor that of Russia have made any official statement on this matter. They have only repeatedly expressed the hope that all the problems would be solved through consultations. As far as is known, this subject might be on the agenda of the projected visit of the Israeli prime minister to Ukraine, but the date of this visit has not yet been disclosed. In other words, the official bodies of Israel and Russia are not inclined to pressure Ukraine over this matter and are trying to handle the situation with understanding.

Nevertheless, the situation is quite unpleasant for Ukraine. Still vivid in the memory is the behavior of Ukrainian authorities last October, when the former minister of defense lied in parliament that there could be no Ukrainian fault in the tragedy, and then the military had to admit its guilt for shooting down the plane (the then minister of defense is now a Verkhovna Rada deputy). With Ukraine enjoying not terribly high international confidence at that time in any case, the absence of a civilized official reaction to the plane crash could not but further tarnish the largely negative image of this country. Any protest action now can only reinforce the suspicion that Ukraine will again fall into disgrace and that Kyiv is dragging its feet on the solution of the problem, although this is in fact not always so. The joint commission led by security council secretaries Yevhen Marchuk of Ukraine and Vladimir Rushailo of Russia has already made a technical assessment of what happened in October and why. From then on, as far as is known, the problem has been handled on the Ukrainian side by First Vice Premier Oleh Dubyna. Obviously, it is now in Ukrainian interest to show the world that this state is above all aware of its indebtedness to the people (compatriots and foreigners alike) and is doing its best to avoid such shame in the future. For this kind of glory costs the state too much. Thus the quiescent tone of official Kyiv’s statements sounds strange in the current situation.