MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. A Ukrainian pilot who was detained after his plane crashed in Russia’s Bryansk Region has been charged with illegally crossing the border, an official at the Bryansk Regional Court told TASS on Friday.
The official added that the Sovetsky District Court would decide on pre-trial confinement for the pilot later in the day.
The official also specified that the charge was based on Article 322.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (crossing the Russian border without valid documents for entry or exit).
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Bryansk Region said earlier that a light Ukrainian aircraft had illegally crossed the border into Russia on April 5 and, for unknown reasons, crashed near the Butovsk settlement in the Klintsy District. Its pilot, a Ukrainian national, tried to flee to Ukraine but was detained by a team of border guards. Klintsy District Administration Head Viktor Savchenko told TASS that the incident had caused no casualties or damage on the ground. The plane crashed about 60 kilometers away from the Ukrainian border. A machine gun and a bulletproof vest were seized from the pilot. The aircraft may have been guided with communication assistance. The pilot claimed that he had been promised a reward of 50,000 hryvnias (about 100,00 rubles or $1,300) for conducting aerial reconnaissance of the area.