Ukraine suspends missile chiefs

Tu-154: Investigators say the crash was caused by a stray missile

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine has suspended two senior army officers in charge of missile-firing exercises when a Russian passenger jet was downed over the Black Sea.

Volodymyr Tkachyov, commander of Ukraine's anti-aircraft forces, and his deputy Volodymyr Dyakov, were relieved of their duties pending an investigation into the disaster.

Crash investigators believe the jet was hit by a rogue Ukrainian missile.

"The defence minister signed an order yesterday. They will be suspended until Ukraine's investigating commission has reached its final conclusions," Konstantin Khivrenko, defence ministry spokesman, told Reuters.

All 78 crew and passengers died after the Tupolev Tu-154 jet exploded and crashed into the Black Sea on October 4, when Ukrainian forces were holding live-fire missile exercises in the Crimean peninsula.

Most of the passengers were Russian-born Israelis flying from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk in Siberia.

News of the suspensions followed a statement by the prosecutor general's office that it was preparing the ground for a criminal probe into the disaster.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh said those responsible for the disaster should face the full force of the law after parliament called for a criminal probe.

The two deputies who sponsored the measure, Hrygory Omelchenko and Anatoliy Yermak, said Ukrainian Defence Minister Alexander Kuzmuk "misled the people's deputies by saying that the missile could not have hit the plane," according to the parliament statement.

"The position of Ukraine's president and defence minister over the destruction of the Tu-154 passenger plane became the latest proof that lies, double morality, double standards, and officials' irresponsibility have moved to the state policy level in Ukraine," they said.

Tkachyov tried to resign immediately after the disaster, as did Defence Minister Kuzmuk, but they were refused by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.

Kuchma, himself a former missile factory director, said he wanted to await the final report.

Ukraine's initial denial of involvement prompted incredulity from Russian officials and anger in Israel.

A change of heart came after Russian experts found S200 missile parts among the wreckage of the plane.

Kuzmuk admitted at the weekend that Ukrainian forces were involved but he could not explain how a missile could have destroyed the jet.

The disaster was the second time in 18 months that Ukraine's armed forces lost control of a live missile.

In 2000, four people were killed in their homes in the town of Brovary when a Tochka-U missile struck their apartment block.

The Defence Ministry denied responsibility until rescue workers found remnants of the missile among the rubble.