The Ukrainian government has admitted that a blunder during its military
exercises destroyed a Russian passenger jet over the Black Sea this month,
killing all 78 people on board. 鈥淭he most probable cause of the recent crash was
that it was hit by a missile launched during Ukrainian air defence exercises in
the Crimea,鈥 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma told the Interfax news agency
this week. The recovered wreckage of the plane points to a missile strike. Holes
in the hull and metal balls in the salvaged material are consistent with an
impact from an S200 missile, which is designed to explode just short of its
target and spray it with high-velocity metal balls.
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