SEVASTOPOL. Aug 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Celebrations of Navy Day were moderate in Ukraine this year in the wake of the air crash in Lviv and mourning for its 83 victims.
The vessel parade and traditional meeting of the state's leaders were called off. Nevertheless, President Leonid Kuchma congratulated the Navy's veterans and all military sailors on the 10th anniversary of the Navy's establishment.
Kuchma, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Volodymyr Litvin, Defense Minister Volodymyr Shkidchenko, Navy Commander Mykhaylo Yezhel, Deputy Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Vice Admiral Yevgeny Orlov, chairman of the Crimean parliament Boris Deich and Crimean Prime Minister Serhiy Kunitsyn put out to sea on board the Ukrainian Navy's flagship Getman Sagaidachny. They spent a minute in silence in remembrance of the people killed in World War II and in the Lviv air crash. They put wreaths and flowers on water.
In his address on board the Getman Sagaidachny, Kuchma recalled tragedies of the past few years for which the military were to blame. He said it was necessary to stop "various show involving the military in a time when the nations' armed forces lack budget funds for combat training and solution of the military's social problems."