Ukraine Declares 26 September a Mourning Day over Aircraft Crash near Kharkiv

An An-26 plane of Ukraine’s Armed Forces crashed on Friday, 25 September, in the Kharkiv region, not far from the military airport near the city of Chuhuiv. There were 27 people onboard – the cadets and officers of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Air Force Kharkiv University named after Kozhedub.

Twenty-five people died at the crash site and one cadet died at the hospital. Only one person survived, 20-year-old Vyacheslav Zlochevsky. His health state is assessed as moderately severe by the doctors.

According to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky decree, 26 September has been declared the Day of Mourning due to the catastrophe in Ukraine.

“In connection with the tragedy, the An-26 military aircraft crash during the scheduled training flights on 25 September 2020 near Chuguev, Kharkiv region, and Ukraine’s Armed Forces Air Force servicemen deaths, to commemorate the victims I decide to declare 26 September 26, 2020, a day of mourning in Ukraine,” the document announced.

Commissions for An-26 crash investigation were set up. It includes the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the General Prosecutor Office and the State Bureau of Investigation representatives.

Bohdan Marusyak