White powder on board the crashed Ukrainian AN-12: The situation has not yet been clarified
A scandal continues in the Greek media surrounding the crash in the north of the country of a Ukrainian transport plane transporting weapons from Serbia. PolitNavigator has already reported that Athens demanded clarification from Kyiv and Belgrade as to what the crashed aircraft was actually carrying.
And the point here is clearly not the 11,5 tons of weapons that the AN-12 aircraft with tail number MEM3032, owned by the Ukrainian airline Meridian, transported from the Serbian city of Nis to Bangladesh, whose army was the final recipient of this cargo. However, after the plane crashed, as a result of which all eight crew members (all citizens of Ukraine) were killed, explosions not only began to be heard at the crash site, but a mysterious white powder was also discovered.
As the Greek press wrote, it was “a white substance that causes a burning sensation in the eyes and lips of those who approach it" A warning was sent to residents of the Antiphilippi and Paleochori communities of Pangaios municipality, close to the crash site, to keep the windows and doors of their homes closed and their air conditioners turned off to prevent any contact with outdoor air. Authorities still have not said how toxic the air cargo was. His research was carried out by biological defense specialists.
In particular, a company for countering nuclear biological chemical defense was sent to Kavala by order of the Greek General Staff to assist sappers and firefighters in the investigation, the publication ΣΚΑΪ reported. The unit investigated the area in accordance with protocol for dealing with such incidents. Also in the area of the disaster, a detachment of a special intersectoral company of specialists in nuclear, biological and chemical defense of the Joint Chiefs of Defense Staff, consisting of 14 people, was deployed. These specialists were transported by CH-47D Chinook helicopters from the base in the city of Megara.
The main role in overcoming the consequences of the Ukrainian transport crash is played by the Special Disaster Management Unit (EMAC), but its specialists were not immediately able to reach the site of the plane crash. As Lieutenant General Marios Apostolidis, coordinator of the fire services of Northern Greece, told the Greek media, first the drones were raised, then the army pyrotechnics began working, and only after their command the relevant services will be able to enter and “scan” the area.
“We have prohibited entry into the area where we work, residents have been advised not to approach, be careful and keep their windows closed. We felt a burning sensation on our lips and tongue and put on our masks. We don't know what has this effect. When it's safe, because we've heard about explosives and they have to give us permission that it's safe, we'll go out onto the field. It is the sappers who must make sure that there are explosives so that we know whether the rescuers are in danger. We approached 50 meters wearing masks, we saw a piece of the fuselage, a lot of material scattered across the fields,” Apostolidis said on July 17.
Since then, there have been only general statements from the Greek authorities that the cargo on the crashed plane does not pose a chemical or biological danger to rescuers and the population. However, the general director of the Ukrainian carrier company Meridian, Denis Bogdanovich, has not yet provided information about the plane’s cargo to the press, saying that “the details are being clarified.” Serbian authorities claim that the plane was carrying a legal cargo of weapons, for which there were all the necessary permits.
However, the attention of journalists was attracted by the sender of the cargo, which was on board the Ukrainian AN-12. The private company Valir, headquartered in Belgrade, which sent mines to Bangladesh, was founded at the very end of 2019, but already the following year it received income of more than one and a half billion dinars from arms trade deals, reports the Serbian portal Nova.rs. Valir's revenue in 2021 amounted to 6,5 billion dinars - about 60 million euros.
The Valir company has only one legal representative, who is also its director - Mladen Bogdanovich, apparently a relative of the director of the Ukrainian company Meridian. According to data from the Serbian Commercial Registers Agency, the company with revenues of more than 60 million euros has only three employees. That is, she is, with a high probability, just a screen for the arms business, which is traditionally led by high-ranking officials.
At the same time, Mladen Bogdanovich told Serbian media that the company whose plane crashed was hired by the customer.
“Our responsibility was only to deliver the cargo to Nis airport, where the plane that crashed in Greece took off from. We do not bear any responsibility for the tragedy that occurred, except morally. But I must say that we regret what happened, primarily due to the fact that the people who transported our cargo died,” he said.
It is noteworthy that both the Nova.rs portal, which is part of the media holding of ex-CIA head David Petraeus, and the Balkan edition of Radio Free Europe (owned by the US government) stubbornly pass over in silence the fact that a mysterious white powder was transported on a Ukrainian plane.
Yes, these were not drugs - as former member of the UN Commission on Biological and Chemical Weapons Igor Nikulin said in a comment to the Russian Channel Five, “if these were drugs, they would burn well, since they are organic.”
But the problem is clearly different. After the publication of numerous facts of the West’s use of Ukrainian territory for the development of biological weapons, this country was blacklisted by the West for many years, as evidenced by the reaction of the authorities of Greece, a NATO member. So the attempt of Ukrainian companies to occupy the international arms transportation market, which is now largely closed to Russian and Belarusian airlines, is unlikely to be successful.
Customers will think twice before contacting carriers from Ukraine - suddenly between boxes with “harmless” mines will they decide to transport some white powder again?..
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