- October 5, 2026
- 1:41 pm
- World News
On October 4, 2001, a Tu-154 of Sibir Airlines, flying from Ben Gurion Airport to Novosibirsk, was lost over the Black Sea. An international technical investigation concluded that the aircraft was hit by a Ukrainian S-200 missile during exercises. All 78 people on board died, including 51 Israeli citizens.
25 years later, Russian media are revisiting this story, often recalling the words of then-President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma: “Don’t make a tragedy out of this.” These words were indeed spoken. But the story of flight 1812 does not end there: after initial denials, the Ukrainian leadership acknowledged the aircraft was hit by its missile, apologized to Israel and Russia, and Ukraine later paid $15.4 million to the families of the victims. However, legal responsibility in interstate agreements was specifically excluded, and years later, a Ukrainian forensic examination challenged the conclusion that the aircraft was hit by a missile.
Author: R.Verter
On October 4, 2026, it was exactly 25 years since the Tu-154 disaster over the Black Sea. In Russian publications, it is often referred to as the story of the “Novosibirsk plane” shot down by Ukraine.
Formally, it’s clear why: the flight was headed to Novosibirsk, the airline and crew were Russian.
But from Israel, this story looks different. The plane departed from Ben Gurion, most of the passengers were Israeli citizens, and an ordinary festive flight for dozens of families ended in the deep waters of the Black Sea.
Flight 1812 began at Ben Gurion
On October 4, 2001, a Tu-154M with registration number RA-85693 of Sibir Airlines, later becoming S7, was operating flight 1812 from Ben Gurion Airport to Novosibirsk.
On board were 66 passengers and 12 crew members — a total of 78 people. No one survived.
Among the passengers were 51 Israeli citizens and 15 Russian citizens. Many Israelis were immigrants from the former USSR and were flying to Siberia to visit relatives during the Sukkot holiday.
In the morning, they arrived at Ben Gurion, went through the usual airport procedures, and set off to their families. A few hours later, contact with the plane was lost.
What the IAC established
The main technical document of the investigation was the final report of the Interstate Aviation Committee — IAC.
For the Israeli reader, let us explain: the IAC was created after the collapse of the USSR and dealt with the investigation of aviation incidents in several former Soviet republics.
According to the commission’s findings, the Tu-154 was flying along international route B-145 at an altitude of about 11,100 meters and was hit by the warhead 5B14Sh of the 5V28 missile of the S-200V complex.
The S-200 is a Soviet long-range anti-aircraft missile system. It is not a portable weapon but a full-fledged air defense system with a ground launch installation, radar tracking, and calculation.
According to the IAC version, the missile was launched by a Ukrainian air defense unit during training firing from a position in Crimea near Feodosia. The commission concluded that the radar system of the complex tracked the passenger plane until the warhead detonated.
The striking elements pierced the fuselage of the Tu-154. Depressurization occurred, local fires broke out, the plane lost control, and fell into the Black Sea.
Thus, the technical investigation did not stop at the assumption of a possible missile. The report named specific missile type, warhead, and launch area.
Exercises were held in Crimea
At the time of the disaster, large-scale air defense exercises with live firing were taking place in Crimea.
The firing was conducted in the area of the Opuk training ground. At that time, the Russian Black Sea Fleet was also in Crimea, and the infrastructure of the training ground and the organization of the exercises existed within the framework of the then-close Ukrainian-Russian military cooperation.
This context is important for understanding the organization of the firing, but it does not change the main conclusion of the IAC: the S-200 missile, according to the commission, was launched by a Ukrainian air defense unit.
What happened at sea after the fall
Ben Gurion — Black Sea — Novosibirsk.
This geography is especially important for Israel.
The search operation unfolded about 180 kilometers from the Sochi area. After the fall, the Tu-154 disintegrated, and a significant part of the plane, along with the deceased, sank to a depth of about two kilometers.
That is why rescuers physically could not simply descend to the fuselage and lift the people inside.
They primarily searched for what remained on the water’s surface or was brought there after the plane’s destruction: small debris, interior elements, clothing, open suitcases, personal belongings, bodies, and separate human remains.
The current quickly spread the finds over a large area.
The area was combed by rescue ships and helicopters. At one stage, 11 ships and more than 400 rescuers participated in the operation. A remotely operated underwater vehicle was also used to search for large fragments and flight recorders.
However, a full-fledged operation at a depth of about two kilometers to lift the main part of the liner was not possible. The flight recorders were not found either.
Therefore, of the 78 deceased, only about 15 bodies and separate human remains were found. These were mainly those deceased or their remains that did not sink with the main mass of debris after the plane’s destruction.
By October 10, 14 of the found deceased were identified.
Most passengers and crew members remained deep underwater.
Specialists and about a hundred relatives arrived from Israel
Israel almost immediately joined the operation.
An Israeli Air Force Hercules transport aircraft delivered a group of Israeli military personnel and police to Russia, who helped with the identification of the deceased and interacted with Russian services.
Following a special flight, about a hundred relatives of the passengers arrived in the Sochi area.
Of course, they did not go out to sea. They were invited to identify the found deceased, clothing, and personal belongings, and were asked to describe special features. If visual identification was insufficient, additional information from relatives and DNA samples were used.
For most, this trip ended without the opportunity to take a loved one home: among those raised from the sea, their relatives were not found.
Of the 51 deceased Israeli citizens, only the remains of seven passengers were returned to Israel. They were delivered on October 10, 2001.
For the remaining families, the bodies of their loved ones were never found.
On October 11, an official day of mourning was held in Israel. Flags were lowered on government buildings, the Knesset held a special mourning session, and funerals were held for those whose remains were returned.
Relatives also held a memorial ceremony at the Black Sea — over the place that for dozens of families effectively became the only possible grave.
Initially, Kyiv denied involvement
In the first days, the Ukrainian leadership denied the possibility that the passenger plane was hit by a Ukrainian missile.
On October 8, Leonid Kuchma said that technically such an option seemed impossible, although all versions needed to be investigated. Ukrainian military also claimed that the missiles fired during the exercises could not have reached the Tu-154.
But within a few days, the position began to change.
“Don’t make a tragedy out of this”
On October 10, Leonid Kuchma uttered a phrase that remains one of the most famous parts of this story a quarter of a century later.
“Don’t make a tragedy out of this.”
Kuchma was reflecting on a possible military error and said that disasters of even greater scale had occurred in the world.
But for the families of the 78 deceased, and especially for Israel, where they were waiting for the return of their citizens’ bodies at that moment, these words sounded extremely painful.
NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency in such a story, it is important not to remove inconvenient facts just because today they are used by Russian media. Kuchma’s phrase was there. The initial denials were also there.
But the chronology does not end there.
On October 13, the Minister of Defense apologized
Three days after Kuchma’s words, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk publicly acknowledged the involvement of the Ukrainian military in the disaster.
“We know we are involved in this disaster.”
He offered deep apologies to the relatives and loved ones of the deceased.
On October 24, Kuchma acknowledged the aircraft’s hit and apologized to Israel
On October 24, 2001, Leonid Kuchma spoke on Ukrainian television.
He acknowledged that the passenger plane was hit by a Ukrainian missile, accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk, ordered a review of the exercise procedures, and limited missile firings.
The main point for the current discussion: Kuchma officially apologized to Russia and Israel, as well as to the families of the deceased.
This was recorded by international and Russian media directly on October 24–25, 2001. Therefore, the claim that Ukraine “never apologized” does not correspond to the chronology of events.
One can discuss the initial denial, Kuchma’s words on October 10, and how late the acknowledgment was. But official apologies did indeed follow.
Israel was paid $7.59 million
The next important stage came two years later.
On November 20, 2003, the governments of Ukraine and Israel signed a special agreement to settle claims related to the disaster.
Under it, Ukraine committed to transferring $7,590,933.34 to the Israeli side for the heirs, successors, and dependents of the deceased included in the agreement.
The document was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada. Its text and information about the ratification are available in the official database of Ukrainian legislation.
A separate agreement was concluded with Russia for $7,809,066.66.
Together, these two amounts total $15.4 million.
So to the question of whether Ukraine paid compensation to the families of the deceased, the answer is unequivocal: yes, it did.
At the same time, it was specifically about payments to relatives. The airline did not receive this money for the destroyed aircraft.
Why the payment did not mean legal recognition of responsibility
At first glance, there seems to be a contradiction: the Ukrainian leadership acknowledged the aircraft was hit by a Ukrainian missile, apologized, then the state paid millions of dollars — but simultaneously stated that it did not recognize legal responsibility.
The explanation lies in the ex gratia formulation.
For the Israeli reader: this is a legal term denoting a voluntary payment that does not in itself imply recognition of a legal obligation or responsibility.
This is how the agreements with Israel and Russia were structured.
Politically, the Ukrainian leadership acknowledged the aircraft was hit by its missile and apologized.
Financially, Ukraine paid compensation to the families.
But legally, the documents were drafted so that the fact of payment did not constitute recognition of Ukraine’s international legal responsibility.
These are different levels, and mixing them into formulas like “Ukraine acknowledged everything” or “Ukraine acknowledged nothing” is incorrect.
Why the airline S7 did not receive compensation
After settling the families’ claims, Sibir Airlines, later becoming S7, separately demanded that Ukraine compensate for the cost of the destroyed Tu-154 and related losses — more than $15.3 million.
It was in this legal process that a new line emerged.
The Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Examinations in 2008–2010 prepared a conclusion questioning the possibility of the Tu-154 being hit by a Ukrainian S-200 missile under the described circumstances.
The defendants’ side referred to this expertise.
Ukrainian commercial courts denied the airline compensation, and in December 2012, the High Commercial Court of Ukraine upheld the previous decisions.
Representatives of the airline disputed the experts’ conclusions. They tried to involve IAC specialists and obtain additional materials, but the corresponding motions were not granted.
But here it is important not to make the opposite mistake.
The phrase “the Ukrainian court proved there was no missile” would be too strong a conclusion.
The courts considered a specific property claim by the airline and the question of whether there were sufficient grounds for recovering money.
At the same time, the final technical report of the IAC continues to contain a different conclusion: the Tu-154 was hit by the warhead of a Ukrainian S-200 missile.
Memory of flight 1812 in Israel
For Russian media, the natural point of this story remains Novosibirsk. For Israel — Ben Gurion and the families, most of whom could not even bury their loved ones.
Twenty years later, the Israeli National Film Fund supported a documentary “Flight 1812: In Search of Mom”.
Its protagonist, Ilya Zeltser, lost his mother Oksana on this flight. He was 13 years old at the time. The film essentially poses a question to Israeli society: why has a tragedy with so many of the country’s citizens gradually almost disappeared from public memory.
A memorial place for the victims of flight 1812 has been created in the Ben Shemen Forest.
That is why the term ‘Novosibirsk tragedy’ is too narrow. Novosibirsk was the final destination of the route. But the plane took off from Israel, and for dozens of families, this story began right here.
Today NAnews has to report on a completely different tragic connection between Israel and Ukraine. On September 25, 2026, in Kyiv, a Russian drone killed 14-year-old Israeli Daniel Umansky. We have thoroughly reconstructed the story of his family and the circumstances of his death, and separately compiled how Israel has reacted to Russian strikes on Ukraine since 2022.
This does not mean that the events of 2001 and 2026 can be equated. The reasons, circumstances, and responsibilities are completely different. What remains common is this: for thousands of families, the boundary between ‘Israeli’ and ‘Ukrainian’ history is much less noticeable than on the political map.
What remains after 25 years
The story of flight 1812 is difficult to honestly fit into a single political slogan.
The main technical investigation concluded that the passenger Tu-154 was accidentally hit by a Ukrainian S-200 missile during exercises. The Ukrainian leadership initially denied such a possibility. Leonid Kuchma indeed said: ‘There is no need to make a tragedy out of this.’
But then came the admission of involvement by the Ukrainian military, official apologies to Israel and Russia, and compensation to the families of the victims.
The legal framework was different: interstate agreements specifically did not recognize Ukraine’s legal responsibility. Later, in a dispute with the airline, Ukrainian forensic experts challenged the missile version, and S7 was unable to recover the cost of the aircraft.
In this dispute over wording, it is easy to lose sight of the main point.
78 people took off from Ben Gurion and did not return. Of the 51 Israeli citizens who died, only the remains of seven were brought home. Most of the victims, along with the wreckage of the plane, remained at the bottom of the Black Sea.