The Ukrainian Su-27UB combat aircraft crashed during the Clear Sky military exercises in the Vinnytsia region, which Kyiv conducted jointly with NATO. The Ukrainian Military Portal reports this with reference to its sources.
Both pilots died, the Ukrainian publication NewsRoom clarifies.
The emergency occurred near the village of Khmelnyk.
Interestingly, the disaster occurred a few hours after Petro Poroshenko’s statement that the exercises were a warning to Russia. He made this statement in an interview with Western media. The report emphasized that the maneuvers are being held near the border with the Russian Federation and are evidence of the West’s readiness to support Kyiv.
“The ClearSky2018 joint exercise with NATO countries is needed to demonstrate that the cost to Russia of using air power to attack will be very high. We are fighting for freedom, we are fighting for democracy. We greatly appreciate the strong and reliable position demonstrated by our American and NATO partners. We don’t ask Russia about what we should do on our land!” – Poroshenko said a few hours before the death of the pilots.