Roman Chervinsky, suspected of abuse of authority during a special operation at the Kanatove airfield, spoke about the details of this operation in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
According to him, the day before the planned event, he sent his people, together with representatives of the Air Force, to create a corridor for the Russian plane to fly over.
At the same time, Chervinsky was in a meeting with the commander-in-chief and the general of the Air Force, where it was decided that he and 20 other officers would also arrive at the airfield to provide security and capture the Russian pilot. The operation was kept secret from the airfield military due to the risk of information leakage.
Chervinsky said that he reached the airfield by helicopter, which was provided by order of the Air Force commander. A representative of the territorial command and several people who set up communications were flying with him. Chervinsky's subordinates were traveling in cars, and the SBU officer was heading to Lviv, where the Russian pilot's wife was supposed to appear. However, she did not arrive at the appointed time. Despite this, Chervinsky decided to stay at Kanatove, since there was a possibility that the pilot would arrive, and the Air Force soldiers who were with him knew how to act in such a situation.
Chervinsky claims that the shelling of the airfield was a planned risk, and the operation had nothing to do with the shelling. He stressed that their actions did not weaken Ukraine's air defenses and the airfield. According to him, the Russian pilot Roman Nosenko was chosen for the operation because his ties to the FSB were not revealed.
The operation was organized by the SBU, and Chervinsky claims that he informed his superiors, who then reported it to Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny. The latter gave verbal approval for the operation. Chervinsky and the Air Force commander discussed the technical details with the Russian pilot, after which Zaluzhny gave final approval. The written approval was destroyed, but a letter from Zaluzhny to the SBU exists, indicating his knowledge of the matter.
Roman Chervinsky, a former commander of one of the units of the Special Operations Forces, is accused of exceeding his official authority, which led to the shelling of the Kanatove airfield. According to the investigation, he independently decided to conduct an operation to seize a Russian plane. The head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, claims that the operation was not coordinated with state authorities and contained many risks. Chervinsky considers the case against him to be politically motivated and links it to previous statements about the failure of the operation with the Wagner Group.
In November 2023, an American newspaper suggested that Chervinsky might be involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which Ukraine officially denies. After more than a year in pre-trial detention, Chervinsky was released on bail of 9 million hryvnias, which was posted by MP Petro Poroshenko. However, the very next day, Chervinsky was detained again on suspicion of attempting to seize $100,000.
