A Russian general piloting a ground attack aircraft has been shot down over Ukraine, becoming the highest-ranking pilot killed in the conflict to date.
Major General Kanamat Botashev, 63, was withdrawing from an attack when he was hit by an anti-aircraft missile fired by Ukrainian paratroopers. He had no time to expel himself and died instantly in the blast.
Botashev had a history of unauthorized flights, a feature that ended his military career.
In June 2012, a two-seater Su-27 fighter jet crashed without a permit. Although he was not qualified to pilot it, he ordered a subordinate officer to transfer the controls to him while doing an exercise and then tried to do an acrobatic acrobatics.
The jet took off