The U.S. Air Force KC-135T Stratotanker aircraft assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, with tail number 85-0092, was late for the Ukrainian Independence Day military parade in Kyiv.
The curious incident occurred Tuesday morning when a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing lost its timecode due to unknown reasons and was late at the parade in the Ukrainian capital.
The American plane flew over the stands in the center of Kyiv at the moment when the parade itself was over.
The 100th Air Refueling Wing is the only permanent U.S. air refueling wing in the European theater, providing the critical air refueling “bridge” which allows the expeditionary Air Force to deploy around the globe at a moment’s notice.
Before KC-135T Stratotanker, military aircraft and helicopters of the Air Forces of Slovakia, Poland, and Great Britain successfully completed their flight programs.
On 24 August, Ukraine held its first military parade in several years, celebrating the 30th anniversary of its independence and declaring it would reclaim areas of its territory annexed by Russia.
Units of the Ukrainian army, tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, and air defense systems marched along the central street of Kyiv, while a parade of Ukrainian Navy units took place in the Black Sea port of Odessa
Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991, in the wake of the failed coup attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
