Second anniversary of the death of crew and paratroopers on board IL-76

Two years ago Ukraine suffered a terrible tragedy. From the sky above the Lugansk Russian terrorists shot down a military aircraft. On board were 49 people – nine crew members and 40 paratroopers – all were killed on impact. Those accountable have yet to be punished. The shooting down of the aircraft raises questions about why the military command that ordered the flight did not think the militants may have precision weapons? However, no answer will bring the almost 50 heroes back.

It was the first major loss of life for Ukraine during the fighting. Relatives and people close to the victims demanded the punishment of those responsible for neglect in a time of war. The trial of suspects continues.

On June 14, 2014, two missiles were fired at the PZRK aircraft on landing approach at the airport in Lugansk. IL-76 was at an altitude of 700 meters. After the plane was hit by the first missile, it began to rapidly descend. Then the second missile folllwed by the separatists finishing it off with heavy machine gun fire. The plane turned over several times in the air, broke apart and fell 6 kilometers from the airport.

Forty  paratroopers and the nine man crew were killed. Heroes live as long as we remember them and we must not forget:

The crew of IL-76 (Zaporizhia)

Volodymyr Burkavtsov (1976—2014), Senior Guard Lieutenant

Oleksandr Biliy (1976—2014), crew commander, Guard Colonel

Mikhail Dyakov (1968—2014), head of airborne fire tactical training, Guard Major

Oleksandr Kovalik (1972—2014), senior air gunner, Guard Ensign

Oleksandr Kozoliy (1984—2014), Guard Senior Lieutenant

Viktor Mentus (1982—2014), senior air operator, Guard Ensign

Oleh Pavlenko (1971—2014), senior technician, Guard Lieutenant

Ihor Skachkov (1977—2014), aviation squadron navigator, Guards Captain

Serhiy Telehin (1971—2014), aviation squadron technical and operational manager, Guard Captain

25th Airborne Brigade (Dnipropetrovsk region)

Konstantin Avdeev, senior gunner, senior soldier

Oleksandr Avramenko, anti-aircraft-shooter, soldier

Valeriy Altunin, platoon leader, Lieutenant

Vitaliy Bondarenko, grenade launcher, soldier

Ilya Hayduk, soldier

Anatoliy Horda, senior driver, senior soldier

Valeriy Hrabovoy, deputy battery commander, Senior Lieutenant

Andriy Dmytrenko, soldier

Serhiy Dobropas, anti-aircraft-shooter, senior soldier

Stanislav Dubyaha, anti-aircraft-shooter, soldier

Denys Kamenev, anti-aircraft-shooter grenade launcher, senior soldier

Vladyslav Kyva, refueling vehicle driver, Junior Sergeant

Yuriy Kovalchuk, combat vehicle commander, Sergeant

Oleh Korenchenko, soldier

Pavlo Kosnar, squad commander, Junior Sergeant

Oleksandr Kotov, anti-aircraft-shooter, soldier

Anton Kuznetsov, anti-aircraft-shooter, senior soldier

Ruslan Kulibaba, tanker driver, Sergeant

Serhiy Kucheryabiy, squad commander, Junior Sergeant

Pavlo Levchuk, anti-aircraft-shooter, soldier

Serhiy Lisnoy, driver, soldier

Taras Malyshenko, anti-aircraft-shooter, soldier

Serhiy Manulov, technician, Senior Warrant

Serhiy Miroshnichenko, a senior gunner, senior soldier

Serhiy Moskalenko, soldier

Pavel Nikonov, anti-aircraft-shooter, soldier

Evgeniy Reznikov, gun commander, sergeant

Anton Samokhin, fitter-assembler, senior soldier

Artem Sanzharovets, senior soldier

Artem Skalozub, senior gunner, senior soldier

Serhiy Shostak, anti-aircraft-shooter, senior soldier

Andrew Shulga, soldier

Serhiy Shumakov Serhiy, senior gunner, Sergeant

Serhiy Krivosheev, driver, soldier

Rostislav Pronkov, soldier

Vitaliy Baban, squad commander, Sergeant

Ihor Tokarenko, driver, soldier

Vitaliy Bahur, battery commander and instructor with DMA, Lieutenant

Serhiy Honcharenko, gun commander, Junior Sergeant

Oleh Lefintsev, tanker driver, senior soldier