Rogue Missile

October 12, 2001 12:38 PM

Rogue Missile responsible for the downed Russian Tu-154 in the Black sea. Ukrainian officials are calling for the resignation of all responsible military officials. I guess it's good that it wasn't terrorism... but it's a shame none the less.
posted by dancu (8 comments total)

This isn't the first time one of Ukraine's (not Russia's) missiles went badly astray. UKRAINE'S TOP MILITARY CANCEL LAUNCHES OF MISSILES, FOLLOWING [April 20, 2000] ACCIDENT IN BROVARY per Ukraine Today.
posted by Carol Anne at 1:08 PM on October 12, 2001

DEBKAfile’s political sources reveal what led up to it. In several hours on the phone with Putin, the two agreed to announce that terrorists had brought down the Siberian airliner.

http://www.debka.com

Scroll down on the right.
posted by Niahmas at 1:24 PM on October 12, 2001

Debka is full of crap. Both corpses and metal wreckage recovered from the plane were full of small steel balls, which are fired from the warhead of that model of missile. The warhead is sort of like a big shotgun round.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 1:34 PM on October 12, 2001

I think it's pretty clear from looking at the site that Debka doesn't seem to be the most discriminating news source.
posted by QrysDonnell at 1:44 PM on October 12, 2001

You know, I thought it was really fishy when this first happened that the Ukrainian military folks were so fast to deny it - the way they said "We did not do this, it is impossible", and then - after saying that, they went to see if it truly was their fault or not. Echoes of Soviet-era doublespeak.
posted by kokogiak at 2:19 PM on October 12, 2001

Niahmas, thanks for that Debka link! That was funny. Is Debka like the Onion? Some of their stuff seems almost real.

kokogiak, echoes of bureaucratic response to any disaster. Please review the US Navy stonewall on the sub hitting the Japanese school boat. Really, when you look at the sea change in relations among the US, Russia, and Ukraine even over just the last few years it's an amazing passage of events, covered intensively by the free press in all three countries.
posted by dhartung at 3:54 PM on October 12, 2001

Debka is the Israeli "Matt Drudge" -- sometimes right, but only by luck.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 5:02 PM on October 12, 2001

...sub hitting the Japanese school boat...

Speaking of that, the Ehime Maru is coming up today.
posted by nikzhowz at 5:31 PM on October 12, 2001