News
Russia loses its highest-ranking pilot yet in Ukraine after he was blasted out of the skies by a stinger missile
A Russian Air Force Major General has been killed by Ukrainian forces, making him the highest-ranking fighter pilot to die in the war in Ukraine.
Maj. Gen. Kanamat Botashev, 63, became the 13th general to die in Ukraine when he was hit by a Stinger missile while flying over the Luhansk region on Sunday, sources told BBC Russia.
Botashev, 63, had been enjoying retirement when Russian tanks rolled across the border on February 24 and had not flown since 2012.
His Su-25 fighter jet was hit by a Stinger missile at around 8:25am on Sunday morning in the Donbas skies, and he was unable to eject.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported an Su-25 had been downed in Luhansk, and one of Botashev’s former colleagues confirmed his death to BBC Russian Service.
Botashev’s former colleague told the BBC that ‘he simply could not stay away’ when offered a chance to fly, but the loss of such a high-ranking, elderly general suggests the Russian air force does not have enough pilots capable of conducting sorties over Ukraine.
The retiree is the 10th Russian general believed to have died already in Ukraine, while more than 40 colonels have been killed in bloody fighting.
The Land Forces of Ukraine meanwhile declared in its latest count on Friday that 204 Russian planes have been destroyed over Ukrainian skies.
News of Botashev’s death broke yesterday on several pro-war Telegram channels, but many of the posts were removed by administrators.
One post reported the general’s death and described how his plane was first damaged by a missile, but was then blasted out of the sky by a Stinger.
‘Kanamat died today! Popasnaya district, 8:25… first the plane was hit (by a missile), secondly, bombs – Stinger, at the exit of the attack.
‘There was an explosion in the air and… That’s it.’
One user posted a tribute to the slain general in the Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber but this was also removed.
‘Farewell, commander… There are few people on this planet who lived in the sky as much as you do. The sky takes the best, today it took you,’ the post read, according to the BBC.
Born in 1959 in Karachay-Cherkessia, Botashev graduated from the Yeysk Higher Military Aviation Institute and quickly established himself as an excellent pilot, qualifying as a fighter-bomber and rising rapidly through the ranks.
Botashev commanded a regiment of the Guards Air Base in Voronezh, a Russian city located roughly 300 miles south of Moscow.
News
Mother and her six-year-old daughter gang-raped in moving car after accepting lift from group of men in India’
A mother and her six-year-old daughter were gang-raped by a group of men who offered them a lift home in northern India.
Police said the men had promised the woman and her daughter they would drive them safely back from Piran Kaliyar, a holy site for Muslims and Hindus, on the banks of the Ganga Canal, Roorkee, Uttarakhand province.
The alleged driver, who has been identified only as Sonu, already had passengers in the car when he agreed to drive the woman and her child, Police superintendent Pramendra Doval said.
Local media reported the mother said she had no idea how many men were in the vehicle.
The men allegedly attacked and raped the woman and her daughter in the moving car before they dumped the victims near a canal.
In spite of the ordeal, the mother managed to reach a police station, where she reported the crime.
The pair were taken to Roorkee Civil Hospital, where medics confirmed the woman and the little girl had been sexually assaulted.
Police confirmed investigations are ongoing..
A lady has lost her life after her jealous friends poisoned her to death.
According to Twitter user @EmpressAdusei, the deceased who was her niece, just gained a scholarship to study in France before she met her untimely death.
”My niece was poisoned by her friends because she had a scholarship to go to France I can’t even breath right now I’m actually finished… she’s Gone”
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has promised not to fail Nigerians after taking over from Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, the former CJN who resigned on Sunday evening on health grounds.
Addressing State House Correspondents after taking the oath of office, Ariwoola said with the support of his colleagues, the judiciary under him shall not fail Nigerians.
He said;
“What Nigerians expect from me is to comply, preserve and abide and protect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And so be it. That is what I will do especially with the cooperation of my brother Justices of the Supreme Court. We shall not fail Nigerians.”
On the current controversy at the supreme court, Ariwoola said;
“There is no controversy in the Supreme Court. We are one with the Chief Justice. That’s why you heard the President said His Lordship, is disengaging on the grounds of ill-health. No controversy we’re one.”
On the welfare issues highlighted in the letter addressed to the former CJN, he said;
“It was an internal memo of the court. It was not a petition. It was not a letter. It was addressed by the brother Justices of the Chief Justice and presented to him, His Lordship directly. There were issues to be resolved amongst justices.”
When asked if those issues would be resolved under his leadership, he said: “Yeah, we’ve started resolving it.”
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