Ukraine Resumes Missile Tests

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s army was due to resume tests of surface-to-air missiles today, four years after the accidental downing of a commercial airliner during a military exercise.

S-200 Missile

Defence Minister Anatoly Gritsenko and other top-ranking commanders were to watch the test of the S-200 missile from the southern Crimean Peninsula.

The test was to be the first since October 2001, when a stray S-200 missile hit a passenger jet over the Black Sea, killing 78 people – mostly recent Russian immigrants to Israel.

Ukraine suspended live surface-to-air missiles tests following the disaster.

Ukraine’s impoverished and poorly trained army has been plagued by accidents, with more than 700 servicemen killed in mishaps over the past six years.

Source: Ireland OnLine