The then Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi of the Air Force Command knew about the operation to chase down the Russian plane, and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) planned it. In general, representatives of SOF, an operative of SBU, a representative of the Air Force and the command of one of the AF centers were involved in it.
Chervinsky was not involved in this operation from its very beginning. He was brought in when SBU needed contacts with the Air Force to organize the air corridor and the safety of the flight. SBU turned to Chervinskyi, who was in contact with AF. Subsequently, it was them [the AF] that was responsible for the safety of the aircraft race.
When Chervinskyʼs manager reported to Zaluzhnyi about the essence of the operation, the head verbally allowed him to assess whether it could be carried out. Having such permission, Chervinsky went to the commander of the Air Force Mykola Oleschuk and explained to him the essence of the operation. Then Oleschuk gave Chervinsky the contacts of a lower-ranking commander.
On June 11, 2022, Zaluzhnyi allegedly signed a sanction document to create a group to conduct the operation and follow-up. This document has not been preserved. All because in August 2022, Chervinskyʼs military unit was disbanded and this document had to be destroyed — the military unit did not have an archive for secret documents. However, when Zaluzhnyi signed the sanction, he also signed a letter requesting SBU to second his employee under the command of SOF to conduct the operation. This letter is in the file.
It was SBU who chose which of the Russian pilots to invite to take part in the operation. According to the agreement, the pilot had to fly to Ukraine through an agreed safe corridor at a certain altitude. He also received a password so that the Air Defense Forces of Ukraine would not attack him.
Roman Nosenko, who flew the Su-24 and Su-34 and had no connections with FSB, was chosen as a pilot in SBU. Nosenko was supposed to fly to one of three airfields, among which was "Kanatove". At the same time, he did not know which one to the last. He should have been informed of this at the border. The military working at the airfields also did not know about this operation — due to the risk of information leakage.
"The Russians could not have known in advance that we would be waiting for them at one of the three airfields, in particular at the “Kanatove”. All measures were carried out in such a way that they could not know," Chervinsky emphasizes.
The day before the operation — on July 22 — Chervinsky sent a group of "people" and representatives of the Air Force to organize an air corridor for the passage of the Russian plane. They had MANPADS with them to additionally strengthen air defense in case the Russians decided to cheat and break into the airspace of Ukraine.
At noon, Chervinsky discussed the operation with his superior and the Air Force general who participated in the operation. Together, they decided that Chervinsky and a group of 20 people should go to the “Kanatove” to pick up the pilot and support security.
For this purpose, Chervinskyi and a representative of AF flew by helicopter to Kropyvnytskyi from the Vasylkiv airfield at 4-6 p.m. Chervinsky was allowed to use the helicopter by the commander of AF Mykola Oleschuk himself — he did it at the request of the commander of the territorial command, with whom Chervinsky consulted about the operation.
On the eve of the operation, SBU also sent an employee to Lviv. The Russian pilotʼs wife was supposed to arrive there at 2 am on July 23. When this did not happen, Chervinsky suspected that the operation would not happen.
"The pilot did not arrive. For what reasons, I donʼt know, if he was detained by the FSB or if he was playing. It was SBU that dealt with this issue and determined this story," Chervinsky noted.
At 5 a.m. on July 23, the Russians fired 13 missiles at the “Kanatove” airfield. The commander of the military unit was killed by the shelling, 17 soldiers were wounded. The missiles also destroyed two fighter jets, other equipment and the takeoff strip.
Chervinsky, together with a representative of the Air Force, was at the airfield during the shelling, but managed to get down to the shelter. At the same time, the wounded servicemen carelessly violated safety regulations and did not enter the bomb shelter, he says. That is why they were not paid disability compensation — they say, the official investigation established that they received injuries precisely because of a safety breach.
"When we were planning all this, they [the AF] said that shelling airfields is a not big deal and planned risks. The operation could not be the reason for the shelling: missiles are launched at targets (aircraft, headquarters, etc.). Therefore, missiles were not fired at the operation, they were launched at objects regardless of whether there was an operation or not. If there were no planes there, the missile would not have landed there. The operation has nothing to do with shelling," says Chervinsky.
Even after the shelling, SBU was in contact with the pilot. At least thatʼs what the service told Chervinsky.
SBU stated that through Chervinskyʼs actions, the Russians learned about "the deployment of Air Force personnel and Ukrainian aircraft." He denies it. Like, the only information that was given to the Russians was that in exchange for the plane they would be given money and a passport of Ukraine or other countries.
"This is the information that Ukraine gave to the pilots under the law on remuneration," says Chervinsky.
Currently, Chervinsky is under house arrest in the case of a possible bribe. Chervinsky calls this case falsified. The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office believes that in 2020, Chervinsky impersonated an official of the State Fiscal Service and tried to receive a $100 000 bribe. He allegedly promised the businessman to return the seized batch of tobacco products if he paid $100 000 to "employees of the fiscal and tax services."
The ex-intelligence officer explained: his acquaintance from the legal company decided to consult with Chervinsky about one "strange" client. This customerʼs goods were seized by customs and he applied to this company to remove the seizure through the court. It was the lawyersʼ services — not the bribe — that was valued at "$100 000". Due to the fact that the client was behaving strangely, the law firm asked Chervinsky to communicate with him (in order to better understand what kind of client he was). Chervinsky says that the SBU employees "cut" the video and pretend that by saying "give me the documents", Chervinsky meant money.
We (unfortunately) canʼt hijack a Russian plane, but we can write a text about it. Support our work: 🔸 Buy Me a Coffee , 🔸 Patreon , 🔸 PayPal: [email protected]