My thanks to the many friends, aviators, monitors, fellow travelers, and experts who gave their time, and sometimes more, even at risk to their personal safety, generously. And most of all, my friendship and gratitude to the crews, and to Mickey’s crew—Mickey and Sergei especially, wherever they are.
Special thanks: First and foremost, my thanks to the crewmen with whom I flew, drank, and talked.
Thanks to: Marshal Evgeny Shaposhnikov, Nikolay Viktorovich Korchunov, Brian Johnson-Thomas, Milos Vasic, Igor Salinger, Nigel Tallantire, Katya Stepanova, Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin, Peter and Ira, Evgeny Zakharov, Martin Ssebuyira, Ilya Neretin, Iain Clark, John MacDonald (and his Secret Friend), Moisés Naím, Ernest Mezak at the Komi Memorial Commission of Human Rights, Linda Polman, Andrei Soldatov, Mira Markovic, Aaron Hewit, Arthur Kent, Andrei Lovtsov, Sharren (Shazz) Glencross, Terry Bonner, Dr. Mark Galeotti, Richard Chichakli, Dominic Medley, Ahmed Rashid, Dmitry Tarasevich, Tatyana Parkhalina, TRAFFIC, Andrey Formin, Patrick Matsiko wa Mucoori, Peacock at Red Pepper, Kigongo at New Vision, Sarah Robson, Kevin O’Flynn and Oksana Smirnova at the Moscow Times, Branislav, Planecrazi, Dr. Christopher M. Davidson, the Embassy of the Republic of Byelorussia in Great Britain, Alexey Zaytsev, Haroun, Tricia O’Rourke, Jock, Andrew Hirsch, Dean Fitzpatrick, Savita Singh, Rachel Butters, Boris, Zayna, Jamie, Gordana and Natalya, Ian Belcher, “The Antonov Man,” Hugh Griffiths at SIPRI, Damian Clarke at Olympus, “A” at Ilyushin, the nice guys at the MONUC compound (you know who you are), the amazing, elusive Vreme writers who worked with Milos Vasic on that story, Jovan Dulovic, Ilija Vukelic (Belgrade) Branko Stosic (Moscow) and Sergei Kuznetsov (Ekaterinburg), who worked with Milos Vasic at Vreme and whose investigative brilliance, along with Vasic’s, formed the basis for my account of the Surcin crash, and the countless crews, ground staff, witnesses, researchers, and businesspeople who have given their time freely and gone to greater or lesser lengths to contribute, and have trusted me to use their input responsibly. I hope I have not let you down.
Without whom this book would not have been possible: Peter Danssaert of the International Peace Information Service (IPIS) generously put his time, assistance and expertise at my service at several crucial moments over the course of this book’s gestation, and I am endlessly grateful. Jane Mulkerrins, Doug McKinlay, Humfrey Hunter at Hunter Profiles, Clare Conville, Jake Smith-Bosanquet, Susan Armstrong and Henna Silvennoinen at Conville & Walsh. Ben Adams, Michelle Blankenship, Nathaniel Knaebel, Patti Ratchford and, copy editor Will Georgantas at Bloomsbury USA. Ingrid Connell, Bruno Vincent and Ali Blackburn at Pan MacMillan, Juergen Diessl at Ullstein, Alan J Kaufman, David and Linda Potter, Richard Hamilton, Laura Cope, Alisdair Donaldson, Jeremy Points, Jacqui Grice, Ron Piper and the mysterious Mr E. You know who you are. Most of all, very special thanks to my wife Lila, whose help with the countless interviews conducted for this book has been invaluable, and whose patience and belief made it possible.
THE FAMILIES OF THE CREWMEN WHO DIED IN MOGADISHU
A charitable fund has been set up by the company who employed the crew of Candid EW-78849, shot down over Mogadishu in 2007, to help support the families of the slain Byelorussian crewmen. For information on how to contribute, visit www.transaviaexport.com.