Blackjacks Fall Into Gas Trap

The super-modern Tu-160 and Tu-95, known in the West as Blackjack and Bear, respectively, will share the destiny of the Moskva missile cruiser, which has been under repair for several years at a Mykolayiv shipyard. Russia owes the shipbuilders about $10 million for its repair, but Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, who visited Kyiv the week before last, and Leonid Kuchma suddenly found a Solomonic decision during the course of their talks. The debt for the ship was canceled as payment for Ukraine's overall fuel debts to Russia.

Ukraine's strategic bombers also fell into the gas trap. As we learned from the Cabinet of Ministers, the leading role in the future talks with Russia about the terms of aircraft transfer will be played by entrepreneurs rather than the military, above all  representatives of the Naftohaz Ukrayiny state-run enterprise headed by Ihor Bakai. The exchange of airplanes for natural gas debts is most satisfactory for Russia, because this is the cheapest option for Moscow. During the six years of wrangling, Kyiv would only cut the price, and Moscow would only say the bombers were unfit for service. By so doing, the Russians lowered the price from $75 to $25 million dollars apiece, and then altogether refused to buy them and rejected the options proposed by the Ukrainian military: to receive from Russia, in exchange for the bombers, some military cargo planes and spare parts for fighters. Now Moscow is getting a sweetheart deal.

Boris Yeltsin signed a document on June 12, which coordinates the problem of  Tu-160 and Tu-95 transfer with the Ukrainian side. Considering Kyiv's pliableness toward Moscow in all matters in the context of Ukraine's coming presidential elections, the only formalities were left. According to the Commanding Officer of Russia's 37th Air Army General Mikhail Oparin, who is to take over the Ukrainian planes, this step will greatly reinforce the capacity of the Russian long-range aviation. This month Russia conducted the West-99 exercise involving the Russian Air Force Tu-160s and Tu-95s which could fly as far as Britain and Iceland. Experts claim that Russia showed with this exercise that it is still capable of delivering a nuclear strike on US territory with air-launched cruise missiles. Earlier, the US offered Ukraine $9 million to destroy the bombers.