>>27728414>Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma publicly blamed the military for the disaster and dismissed the head of the air force, Volodymyr Strelnykov. The defense minister Volodymyr Shkidchenko sent in his resignation, but it was rejected by Kuchma.[8]On 24 June 2005, a military court sentenced pilot Volodymyr Toponar and co-pilot Yuriy Yegorov to 14 and eight years in prison, respectively. The court found the two pilots and three other military officials guilty of failing to follow orders, negligence and violating flight rules. Two of the three officials were sentenced to up to six years in prison, and the last official received up to four years. In addition, Toponar was ordered to pay 7.2 million hryvnia ($1.42 million; €1.18 million) in compensation to the families, and Yegorov another 2.5 million hryvnia. The crew's main flight trainer was acquitted for lack of evidence.[9][10] Yegorov was released in 2008 after President Yushchenko issued a decree reducing his sentence to three and a half years.[11]
While the pilots were assigned the majority of the blame, which included accusations of attempting maneuvers with which they were not experienced, Toponar had requested an additional training flight at the airfield where the display was to be performed; this request was denied.[12]
After the verdict was announced, Toponar said he planned to appeal, insisting the crash was due to technical problems and a faulty flight plan.
