‘Loose cannon’ Russian ace shot out of the sky after ditching retirement to fight
A RETIRED Russian general has reportedly been killed after his plane was shot down over Ukraine, with colleagues saying the 63-year-old returned to the front lines because he “could not stand aside” from the war.
Kanamat Botashev, who would be the highest profile pilot to die in the conflict so far, was blown out of the skies at the weekend, the BBC reported.
It was unclear how the retired general, a known daredevil, came to be flying an apparent combat mission over western Ukraine.
Yesterday, Russia announced it would debate abolishing the upper age limit on joining the military, currently 40. Moscow has lost about a third of its combat force and at least 190 planes since the war began.
Ukrainian officials said on Sunday that a Russian Su-25 fighter jet had been downed by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Three former colleagues of Botashev yesterday told the BBC’S Russian service that he had died in that attack. He was known to fly an Su-25.
Fighterbomber, a Russian Telegram channel for military pilots, ran a statement on Sunday mourning an unnamed “commander”.
“Goodbye, commander … The sky claims its best men. Today it has claimed you,” it said.
A comment identifying the victim as Botashev was quickly deleted.
According to the Russian ministry of
defence, it takes eight to 10 years and $8 million (£6.4 million) to train a “sniper pilot”, a ranking attained by Botashev.
Discussing how he might have been brought out of retirement, a former subordinate officer told the BBC he “simply couldn’t stand aside”.
The veteran pilot was known for reckless behaviour. He was put on trial for crashing a military jet in an apparent “joy ride” in 2012, the year of his retirement.
The indictment stated that Botashev arrived at a friend’s military base and asked for a ride in a fighter jet that he was not qualified to handle.
The general crashed the aircraft after taking the controls and trying to pera form aerobatics. The crew safely ejected from the Su-27, which fell a hundred metres from the nearest village.
Botashev worked for an amateur aviation association in St Petersburg after his retirement.
Neither Russia’s defence ministry nor the aviation association have confirmed his death.
The incident was reported amid intense speculation that the Kremlin is reviewing its options to increase manpower in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin was reportedly considering full mobilisation earlier this month but stopped short of what would be a politically fraught escalation.
However, young men in Russia have been approached by conscription offices in recent months in what analysts have described as an attempt at “mobilisation by stealth”.
Meanwhile, Russia’s parliament is today is expected to consider a bill that would scrap age limits for contract soldiers. Currently, only Russians aged 18 to 40 and foreign nationals aged 18 to 30 are eligible to sign contracts with the Russian armed forces.
The legislators who introduced the bill said it would make it easier for Moscow to recruit medics and engineers, who can take years to gain the required level of expertise.
The Ministry of Defence has said that, in the three months of the invasion, Russia has suffered a similar death toll to that of its nine-year Afghan war.