Georgian ex-military pilot killed in DR Congo air crash during combat mission

Retired Georgian Defence Forces officer and military pilot Zviad Bekauri was killed in a combat aircraft crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Georgian media reports.

The incident occurred on 17 June, when a Soviet-designed Su-25 ground-attack aircraft crashed during a combat mission.

Bekauri ejected from the aircraft, but rescuers were unable to save him.

He was buried with full military honours on 28 July.

Bekauri was a veteran of the wars in Abkhazia, the Tskhinvali region, and the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.