Funeral held for ‘hero’ Russian Su-25 fighter pilot shot down in Ukraine
- Pilot Kanamat Botashev’s Su-25 attack plane was shot down over the eastern Donbas region
- The 63-year-old retired Russian Air Force major-general had volunteered to return to service
A funeral was held for a retired Russian Air Force major-general whose plane was shot down while flying a combat mission in his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian state news agency Tass said Kanamat Botashev, a 63-year-old major-general who volunteered to return to service, had been shot down last month while flying over the eastern Donbas region.
Since invading Ukraine on February 24, Russia has suffered the loss of several generals and other senior officers.
In reporting on a memorial service held Thursday in Cherkessk – the capital of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Russia – Tass said Botashev was flying in response to a request for help from an assault group blocked by enemy forces.
He “decided to carry out an attack at an ultra-low altitude, and struck at the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and that subsequently helped the group to get out of the encirclement,” Tass reported on Thursday.
It said that when leaving the attack, the plane was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile and Botashev was killed. He was awarded the posthumous title of “Hero of Russian Federation”.