Eight British Hurricane fighters were found near Kyiv. PHOTO
In Ukraine, the remains of eight British Hurricane fighters from the Second World War were found buried in the forest.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the BBC.
The UK sent the recovered aircraft to the Soviet Union after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war in 1941.
They were part of a package of allied military support for the USSR, paid for by the United States under the so-called lend-lease scheme.
Similar legislation is currently being used by the US government to send military aid to Ukraine as it seeks to expel Russian troops from its territory.
Aviation experts say that this is the first time that the remains of so many Hurricane aircraft have been found in Ukraine.
"It is very rare to find this aircraft in Ukraine," said Oleksiy Shtan, a former airline pilot who is leading the excavation. "This is very important for the history of our aviation, because no aircraft provided under the lend-lease have been found here before," he added.
In total, from 1941 to 1944, about 3,000 Hurricane aircraft were sent to the USSR to support military operations. Most of them were either destroyed in combat or later dismantled for spare parts.
However, some aircraft were deliberately damaged and buried after the war so that the Soviet Union would not have to pay the United States. According to the lend-lease legislation, the USSR was obliged to pay for any transferred military equipment that remained intact after the end of hostilities.
This was the fate of the eight planes found in the woods south of Kyiv, the current capital of independent Ukraine.
Tools, radios, machine guns, and any useful metal were taken from these aircraft. They were then dragged away by tractors from a nearby airfield, crushed and dumped into a shallow ravine. It is believed that they were then covered with earth using bulldozers.
The remains of the aircraft were discovered recently after an unexploded wartime bomb was found nearby. The rest of the ravine was checked with metal detectors and the planes were found there.
The National Aviation Museum of Ukraine is currently conducting a thorough excavation of the site. The museum staff are keen to identify as many aircraft as possible so that they can be reassembled and put on display.
Photo: STATE AVIATION MUSEUM, KYIV
Valerii Romanenko, head of the museum's research department, says that these aircraft played an important role in the history of Ukraine.
"Hurricane is a symbol of British aid during the Second World War, just as we greatly appreciate British aid now," he said.
As reported, the UK is currently one of the largest suppliers of military equipment to Ukraine.
