The pilot of the downed Su-22 was captured in Syria

1 Russia

An A-321 passenger airplane made an emergency landing in the Moscow Region — Interfax reports. According to the Interfax, the airplane took off from the Zhukovsky airport — it was supposed to fly to the city of Simferopol — but soon the airplane was forced to land due to engine malfunction caused by birds. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency explained that shortly after the take-off, the airplane collided with a flock of gulls, some of which were sucked into the engines which caused a signigicant malfunction. Due to the impossibility of maneuvering — the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing, without the landing gear, on the field not too far from the runway. 226 passengers and 7 crew members were on board. As a result of the incident, 10 people were hospitalized, with bruises and scratches.

2 Ukraine

The Solomensky District Court of the city of Kiev ordered the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to open criminal proceedings on the possible abuse of power by the prosecutor general of Ukraine, Yuriy Lutsenko, the ‘Ukrainian News’ reported. «On 5th of August, 2019, the court satisfied the applicant’s complaint regarding the inaction of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. The court ordered the bureau to open criminal proceedings on the possible violations, made by Yuriy Lutsenko» — end of quote. Earlier, the related appeal was received by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine from the anti-corruption committee of the Ukrainian parliament. At that time, the department refused to open a criminal case.

3 Iran — Gibraltar

The Iranian tanker ‘Grace 1’, detained by the Gibraltar authorities, will be released on Thursday — ‘The Sun’ reports. According to the sources, close to the chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo — the authorities of the overseas territory of the Great Britain are satisfied that the tanker will no longer sail to Syria. “There is no reason to continue to keep ‘Grace 1’ in Gibraltar if we no longer believe that it violates the sanctions against the Syrian regime” — the source explained. The tanker was carrying oil to Syria, and it was detained in July. The British marines participated in the detention. The tanker was sailing under the flag of Panama. The Iranian Foreign Ministry called the detention of the tanker a ‘piracy’. It was reported that the tanker was detained by the request of Washington. The authorities of Gibraltar claim that they made the decision by themselves.

4. Syria

The details of the incident with the downed Su-22 fighter-jet, that was shot down in Syria, were finally published. The armed Syrian opposition announced that on Wednesday they shot down a Syrian Air Force fighter-jet Su-22. It fell between the cities of Khan Sheikhun and El Tamanaa, in the Idlib province. This was reported by the Anadolu news agency with a reference to the representatives of the opposition. Muhammad Rashid, a spokesman of the opposition alliance ‘National Liberation Front’ told to the Anadolu that the SU-22 was shot down with the AA weaponry located near the city of Al-Tamanaa. According to him — the pilot managed to eject in time, but he was captured by the terrorists of the ‘Jabhat al-Nusra’ group that controls Khan Sheikhun. Later, the terrorists published a video, showing the wreckage of the downed SU-22. The airplane was shot down during an attack on the defensive positions of the terrorists located in Khan Sheikhun. The Syrian army is currently attacking Khan Sheikhun, located on the strategic highway ‘Hama — Aleppo’.