BBC: a 63-year-old retired Russian major general, who was at the controls, died in a Su-25 crash in Ukraine

Retired Russian Major General Kanamat Botashev died in the crash of a Su-25 aircraft that was shot down by the Ukrainian military in the sky over the Luhansk region. This is reported by the BBC Russian Service, citing three of his former subordinates, who asked for anonymity.

the destruction of the Russian Su-25 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on May 22. Soon, as the Ukrainian project “Military” noticed , in one of the pro-Russian telegram channels, a discussion began on the death of a high-ranking pilot, from which it followed that it was Kanamat Botashev who died.

Major General Kanamat Botashev was 63 years old. He retired after the Su-27 he was flying crashed in Karelia in 2012 — as the investigation claimed, without proper training and without permission to fly such a fighter. Then the pilots ejected.

According to the prosecution, the plane crashed after Botashev ordered to transfer control to him and began to perform aerobatics. The court also revealed that Botashev was suspended from flying in 2011 for a similar violation. In 2013, he was sentenced to four years probation and compensation in the amount of 5 million rubles.

Why the retired general participated in the war in Ukraine is unknown. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation did not comment on information about his death. Former subordinates of Botashev, in a conversation with the BBC, suggested that he "simply could not stay away." According to open sources, at least nine soldiers over 50 who retired from the reserve died in Ukraine.