Interrupted flight: in Orenburg they said goodbye to the crew of the Il-76 military transport aircraft

A lump comes to the throat already on the approach to the Orenburg Sports and Concert Complex, where, after the funeral service, the bodies of the dead pilots of the Il-76 military transport aircraft, cynically shot down by a Ukrainian Patriot air defense missile, were brought. There is silence in the huge hall. The first people to enter seem to be afraid to disturb the peace of the crew. They are all together, as in life…

On January 24, 2024, without hesitation, they took the damaged side away from the village. They thought not about themselves, but about those who are here on earth…

The deputy commander of military transport aviation told the details of the death of the crew: “The board was covered by a cloud of destructive elements from an exploding missile. It was from them that experts concluded what type of weapon it was. During the fall, the cockpit separated. The fuselage with the people inside exploded. The bodies of our guys, although they were mutilated, remained intact.”

They were brought home in closed zinc coffins. Crew commander, Major Bezzubkin Stanislav Alekseevich, assistant commander, Lieutenant Chmirev Vladislav Vadimovich, navigator, Major Vysokin Alexey Anatolyevich, on-board engineer Captain Piluev Andrey Leonidovich, on-board aviation technician for aviation equipment, warrant officer Zhitenev Sergei Nikolaevich, senior air radio operator, senior warrant officer Sablinsky Igor Vyacheslavovich – all of them posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.

The commander of the Russian military transport aviation, Lieutenant General Vladimir Benediktov, handed them over to the families of the victims during the funeral ceremony. Governor of the Orenburg Region Denis Pasler expressed his condolences: “All crew members are real heroes. They have thousands of completed tasks, dozens of saved lives of civilians. They fulfilled their military duty every day. The most difficult last task was completed to the end. The crew fought to the last, taking the vehicle, which had received critical damage, away from the populated area. Parents raised true patriots of their country. Eternal memory and deep bow.”

In more than two hours, more than 2,000 ordinary citizens came to say goodbye to the pilots. The flow of sorrow seemed endless, people were crying. The air smelled of alcohol and valerian. The wife of one of the victims could not hold back her sobs. She almost loses consciousness; one of her husband’s colleagues catches her. Another woman hugs the coffin and whispers something…

The relatives of the Heroes decided to bury them in each of their small homelands. Today one plane will fly to Belarus.