According to reports, a Russian pilot involved in bombing missions in Syria was shot down over Ukraine and detained by Ukrainian forces on Saturday.
The Russian pilot identified as Major Krasnoyartsev is thought to have been photographed with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base in northwestern Syria, where he and other Russian pilots were hailed as heroes.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Russian air strikes killed over 8,000 civilians, including 2,000 children and 1,200 women.
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According to Ukrainian authorities, Ukrainian soldiers shot down a Russian Su-24 fighter-bomber near Chernihiv on Saturday morning. The co-pilot was killed, but a pilot identified as Krasnoyartsev ejected and was subsequently captured by Ukrainian soldiers bloodied and bruised.
“You knew you were bombing a peaceful city, right?” the Ukrainians asked him during an interrogation that was broadcast on social media.
“We’re not being told anything,” Mr Krasnoyartsev stated after giving his name and stating that he was a member of the 8,689th unit.
He was then asked how many bombing missions against Chernihiv he had carried out. “It’s the first one in Chernihiv,” Mr Krasnoyartsev replied. We flew along the border before that.”
In the last few days, Russian aircraft have killed at least 47 civilians in Chernihiv, a town of 285,000 inhabitants located north of Kyiv.
For more information on Major Krasnoyartsev and his Su-34 fighter jet fighter jet that was gunned down in Ukraine, read the series of tweets by Idrees Ahmed|@im_PULSE on Twitter.
