Tragedy in the Sky over Khmelnytskyi Region
On June 16, an aviation disaster involving a Su-24M military bomber occurred in the Shepetivka district of the Khmelnytskyi region. The incident took place in the evening, around 19:05, while the crew was conducting a training flight. As a result of the crash, both crew members — pilots aged 55 and 23 — died.
According to preliminary data, there are no casualties among the civilian population. However, the consequences of the disaster have prompted an immediate launch of a large-scale investigation by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.
Pre-trial Investigation Initiated
As reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General, a pre-trial investigation has been launched under the procedural supervision of the Khmelnytskyi Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Defense in the Western Region. Information about the incident has been entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Part 2 of Article 416 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This article provides for liability for violation of flight rules or preparation for them, resulting in serious consequences.
Investigators have already begun their initial actions. The main task at this stage is to establish all the circumstances of the tragedy. In particular, the technical condition of the aircraft, compliance with flight preparation and execution requirements, and other factors that could have led to the disaster are being checked.
Internal Investigation and Ministry of Defense Commission
As part of the criminal proceedings, an internal investigation has been ordered directly within the military unit to which the aircraft belonged, as well as within the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Additionally, a special commission has been created within the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to thoroughly analyze the causes of the aviation disaster.
Currently, measures are being taken to decode the data from the flight recorder, which is a key stage in determining the exact cause of the crash. The inspection of the crash site is ongoing.
Identification of the Deceased
It has been revealed that the crew of the crashed Su-24M consisted of Major Bohdan Zaharulko and Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Babenko. The pilots were carrying out a mission in the Khmelnytskyi region when the aircraft crashed. Photos from the crash site, demonstrating the scale of the destruction, have already appeared in open sources.