The commander of the 105th Aviation Division was sent to court for an incident that occurred in preparation for a training flight in 2018.
The commander of the aviation division Sergei Prokofev crashed a SU-30SM fighter jet without taking off. Being in an obsolete and physically obsolete aircraft, the commander of the combat division confused the crowbar and removed the landing gear on the runway without obtaining permission to take off.
The plane fell with its nose on the concrete and damaged it. The garrison military court ordered Colonel Prokofiev to pay to the state treasury 591 thousand 678 US dollars (43 million 449 thousand 412 rubles) for the broken nose of the 1995 SU-30SM aircraft.
In May 2020, Colonel Prokofiev retired from military service when he reached the age limit with a permit to wear a military uniform (state honor for exemplary service). During his service, Prokofiev mastered 6 types of combat aircraft. And only a year after Prokofiev’s release, the new commander of the aviation division sued his predecessor.
It turns out that in Russia the Stalin’s law “on the financial responsibility of servicemen” is still in force, according to which the commander can not write off property, the amount of which exceeds his annual salary. So, the recklessness of Soviet aircraft design is a problem of the Russian military.
In the event of such incidents, the command staff of Russian army units is forced to turn to civilian courts to defend their honor and dignity. If the command staff is not insured against such cases, the level of combat capability of servicemen is at the lowest level, as the latter will fear for the correctness of their actions.
The civil court ruled that the former commander would have to pay only $ 950 (70,000 rubles) instead of 591,000 $.