Three passenger planes were spotted in the skies over Ukraine: how did they end up there?
In the sky over Ukraine, the flight tracking service Flightradar24 recorded three aircraft that reportedly flew near Uzhhorod. This was reported by TSN.
The radar indicated that the passenger planes were over the Zakarpattia region for some time before changing course and continuing their flight over Romania.
In particular, the following were observed in the restricted airspace over Ukraine:
- An Airbus A330 from Finnair. Flight FIN121 was traveling from Helsinki (Finland) to Delhi (India).
- An Airbus A321 from Wizz Air. Flight W67950 was operating from Riga (Latvia) to Kutaisi (Georgia).
- An Airbus A350 from Finnair. Flight FIN41 was flying from Helsinki to Seoul (South Korea).
Aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko suggests that foreign planes may have entered Ukraine due to the active operation of electronic warfare systems employed by our military during the defense against enemy attacks. He believes that EW systems could have affected the navigation systems of the aircraft, causing them to enter Ukrainian airspace.
Valeriy Romanenko noted that Flightradar, which receives information from aircraft transponders and from the American air traffic monitoring system, is rarely mistaken. Theoretically, this could also happen due to adverse weather conditions. If there was bad weather in the region where the aircraft was flying, pilots might have requested permission to fly over Ukrainian territory. However, the expert leans more towards the version that EW had a direct impact on the flight.
Valeriy Romanenko emphasized that the entry of aircraft into the airspace of Ukraine, which is in a state of war, can pose significant risks for the crews. During an enemy air attack, air defense forces do not have time to discern what exactly is flying, as Russian drones and missiles are attacking Ukrainian cities from all sides.
"They can come from any direction, turn around, and attack a selected target. There have already been cases where enemy cruise missiles and 'Shahed' drones entered this region through Romania and Moldova. Therefore, the situation for these aircraft was quite dangerous," Valeriy Romanenko stated, adding that our air defense operates professionally, unlike the Russian or Iranian systems, which first launch missiles at targets and only then assess the situation.
Recall that on September 19, 2024, a heavy military transport aircraft Il-76TD, belonging to Belarus, was noticed in the airspace of Ukraine.
On November 30, journalists from "Schemes" published an investigation revealing that a Ukrainian bomber Tu-95MS was listed for sale on eBay for 3 million dollars.