YOURSELF IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE ENEMIES

CAUCASUS KNOT

On Monday, September 11, at about 17:30, five kilometers from Vladikavkaz, a Mi-8 helicopter, assigned to the 58th Combined Arms Army, whose headquarters is stationed in the capital of North Ossetia, crashed. Out of sixteen...

On Monday, September 11, at about 17:30, five kilometers from Vladikavkaz, a Mi-8 helicopter, assigned to the 58th Combined Arms Army, whose headquarters is stationed in the capital of North Ossetia, crashed. Of the sixteen military on board (3 crew members and 13 passengers), twelve were killed. Miraculously managed to escape the Deputy Commander - Chief of Logistics of the North Caucasus Military District, Lieutenant General Alexei Shereshkov, Colonel Sergei Dunaev from the headquarters of the logistics of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the head of the clothing service of the logistics department of the North Caucasian Military District, Colonel Alexei Knutov, and also the commander of the helicopter crew, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Sviridov. They were taken to the Vladikavkaz military hospital with severe injuries.

Among the dead are three generals and nine senior officers who worked to check the readiness of the military units of the North Caucasus Military District for winter, including the 42nd division, whose units and subunits are stationed in various regions of Chechnya. The inspection team was led by Lieutenant General Pavel Yaroslavtsev, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Logistics of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and Lieutenant General Viktor Gulyaev, Deputy Head of the Main Military Medical Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. Both of them died, as did Major General Vladimir Sorokin, the chief of staff for the rear of the North Caucasus Military District.

The Mi-8 took off from a helipad near the village of Gizel near Vladikavkaz and headed for Khankala, but crashed after a few minutes of flight. According to eyewitnesses, after hitting the ground, the Mi-8 broke into two parts. Both military experts and investigators identified the technical version of the Mi-8 crash as the main version. In any case, a criminal case was initiated under Article 351 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of the rules of flights and preparation for them”).

Experts believe that a fire broke out on board the Mi-8, possibly caused by a fuel or oil leak. In favor of this version and the testimony of eyewitnesses who observed the Mi-8 immediately after takeoff: a plume of smoke stretched behind it.

At the same time, the military completely excludes the version of a possible terrorist attack, although the malfunction of the helicopter could be caused by both maintenance violations and sabotage. I would not rule out this possibility - I myself have repeatedly taken off from the helipad in Gizel and I can say that it is not properly guarded. And secondly, information about the arrival of a high commission of the Ministry of Defense is always known in advance by all and sundry, up to the rank and file. And many contract fighters are far from the concepts of honor and duty in their moral qualities. There are also those who cooperate with terrorists.

The fact of the death in April 1998 near Nizhny Kurp of senior officers and generals of the General Staff due to direct betrayal is known. Then the group of inspectors was headed by the Chief of the General Staff, General Anatoly Kvashnin. True, he was not in the ill-fated automobile convoy that was ambushed, but many subordinate generals and officers of the General Staff who arrived with him died as a result of a well-prepared attack by militants.

And in January 2002, a strange plane crash occurred in Chechnya on a helicopter belonging to the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then a group of senior officers and generals who arrived in Chechnya for verification died. And the security forces also ruled out a terrorist attack, but that tragedy never received an objective investigation, although in the offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs they spoke openly about betrayal.

So, the specialists and investigators of the prosecutor's office will have to work hard to finally determine the causes of the Mi-8 tragedy on September 11th. Two points are undoubted: the quality of military equipment used in the North Caucasus leaves much to be desired, as does the quality of training and the morale of the personnel.

Vyacheslav IZMAILOV, military observer for Novaya Gazeta

Under the text

JAMAAT INFORMED THE BEGINNING OF THE AIR WAR

As is known, the North Ossetian jamaat "Kataib al-Houl" on September 12 claimed responsibility for the fall of the Mi-8 helicopter and the death of high-ranking officers. Jamaat said the helicopter was shot down by a MANPADS (man-portable air defense system).

Then the following happened. Representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office, participating in the investigation into the causes of the helicopter crash, immediately refuted the version of the jamaat, assuring the public: anything - sabotage of "their own", maintenance, "bad" crew - but not a "terrorist attack"! And the North Ossetian authorities were completely surprised by their ignorance, saying that there was no such jamaat. On the grounds that these authorities do not know about its existence on their territory.

In vain. The existence of a combat armed sabotage jamaat in North Ossetia-Alania has been known for several months. It was created about a year after the Beslan events from the fragments of the previous North Ossetian jamaats, crushed by the republican FSB in the months following the terrorist attack.

In 2006, the jamaat began to regularly go online with statements about its goals, objectives and plans. It was also possible to communicate with its representatives outside the Internet. The last virtual warning immediately preceded the death of the helicopter - for three days the jamaat informed that he would wage an air war, shoot down military helicopters and planes, and would not touch civilians. At the same time, points were announced that the Mujahideen are constantly monitoring, waiting for the departure of high-ranking military men - the airfield in Gizel was among them.

It is completely incomprehensible how, with such statements, a helicopter with such a high-ranking commission nevertheless rose from Gisela.