Yesterday's flash seen even in Belarus, air defence in Kyiv not activated – Ukrainian Air Force

Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Air Force of Ukraine, has said that the anti-air defence system was not operating in Kyiv Oblast during the flash in the sky on the evening of 19 April, and the bright glow was seen even in Belarus.

Source: Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on air during the national 24/7 broadcast in the morning on 20 April; Kyiv City Military Administration on Telegram

Quote from Ihnat: "The Air Force was not working on that front, that's for sure. The Air Force was countering Shahed drones on the eastern front when this phenomenon was observed [i.e. the flash in the sky – ed.].

In non-scientific terms, as there were already reports about a "high-energy acoustic event", then it was probably a meteor."

Details: Ihnat also explained that an air-raid warning had been issued because there was a war going on in the country and an "explosion" had been seen in the sky, so naturally, the Air Force responded and turned on the sirens to find out what was going on.

Ihnat could not comment on whether they found any remains of this presumed meteorite, because the Air Force does not deal with space bodies.

Quote from Ihnat: "This flash was seen even in Belarus, they already posted about it on their channels. So it was not that close to find any debris. I think the special services will deal with it, but maybe this body burned up in the atmosphere altogether. But the Air Forces cannot comment on such things; specialists are needed here [to comment on this issue – ed.]."

Details: Kyiv City Military Administration also reported in the morning of 20 April that it had hastened to announce the fall of a satellite the day before.

Quote from Serhii Popko, head of the administration: "A very bright glow from the fall of an unknown object caused excitement and anxiety among the residents of Kyiv. In order to reassure residents and guests of the capital, Kyiv City Military Administration published information about the probable fall of an American satellite, marked "preliminary information"! At that time, there were no data or warnings about the possible entry of a large space body from any world aerospace agency or astronomical observatory into the Earth's atmosphere. However, there was a warning from NASA about their space satellite falling to Earth."

Details: Popko added that the Kyiv City Military Administration can provide more detailed information after NASA's official statement – it was not their satellite. But experts have to find out what exactly caused the bright flash in the sky.

Background:

• On the evening of 19 April, an air-raid warning was issued in Ukraine's east as well as in Kyiv Oblast, and an aerial target was reported to have been spotted in the skies over Kyiv Oblast.
• Residents of the capital reported seeing a bright flash in the sky.
• Later, Kyiv City Military Administration reported that preliminary reports indicated that the bright flash in the skies over Kyiv was the result of a NASA space satellite falling. The Air Force reported that a meteorite could also have caused the flash.
• Alpha Centauri reported that it was not a NASA satellite but a meteorite that burned out over Kyiv.
• The Main Special Control Centre of the State Space Agency of Ukraine reported that it had recorded a high-energy acoustic event during an explosion in Kyiv on 19 April.

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