Ukraine Renews Adamant Denial It Downed the Russian Plane Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1586000/1586787.stm Monday, 8 October, 2001, 13:49 GMT 14:49 UK Ukraine: Missile travelled 80km All 78 passengers on board were killed Ukraine has issued a fresh denial that it accidentally shot down a Russian passenger jet over the Black Sea, but says a missile fired during exercises travelled further from its launch site than officials have so far admitted. The head of Ukraine's air defences, Volodymyr Tkachov, said two missiles had been fired near the time of the crash on Thursday. He said one of these hit its target, while the other, which missed, landed in the Black Sea 80km (50 miles) from the launch site on the Crimean peninsula before the crash occurred. Officials had earlier insisted the missile travelled only 40km (25 miles); the aircraft plunged into the sea at a distance of about 250km (156 miles) from land with the loss of the crew and all 78 passengers. The United States maintains there is "every indication" a stray Ukrainian missile downed the plane, which was travelling from Israel to Novosibirsk. Other possible explanations for the crash under consideration are a terrorist act or a mechanical failure. Missile tracked "All the data we have show that the Ukrainian anti-aircraft corps were not involved in this accident," Mr Tkachov told a news conference in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. He released video recordings of the two missiles' trajectories and traced their flight paths on a map. He said the other the launch time of the other 21 missiles fired during the exercises did not coincide with the time of the crash. Mr Tkachov's announcement comes after Russia on Saturday said it was not satisfied with the information provided by Ukraine. Ukraine has joined Israel in promising to help in Russia's investigations. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said that a delegation being sent to the Russian city of Sochi to join the Russian team would provide "all the photographic, audio and radio information" it had relating to the missile exercise. Russia - which says a missile was fired four minutes before the crash - has also asked the United States to provide documentary evidence that it was a missile that downed the plane. The US tracked a missile during the Ukrainian military exercise with satellites that sense the heat of its launch. US officials also said the timing of the launch coincided with the disaster. Terrorist theory Russia's investigations have focused on the theory that a terrorist attack brought down the plane. It says "foreign objects" recovered during the salvage operation could not have come from the plane itself. Experts deciphering the plane's black box also claim to have identified the time of the crash after they heard the pilot cry out shortly before the plane exploded. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nyteeu-10.08.01-16:08:44-3344