Presence of Soviet Air Commander in Egypt ‘evidence’ Downed Migs Were Russian Piloted

Rumors persisted here today that four Egyptian MIG-21s shot down by Israeli fighters over the Suez Canal last week were piloted by Russians, There has been no official comment on either side. One report said the U.S. State Department and Israel are treating the matter with “extreme caution” but do not see the likelihood of Soviet retaliation. The rumors were given additional credence today by reports that the commander of the Soviet Air Force, Marshal Pavel Kutakhov. is visiting Cairo. The newspaper Maariv said his visit was in connection with the downing of Russian-piloted MIGs. Other papers quoting sources in Beirut, said he went to Cairo to investigate the loss of the four MIGs, an indication that they were flown by Russians. There was no word reported as to the fate of the Russian pilots allegedly shot down. There was also some speculation that Kutakhov was in Egypt to inspect Soviet defenses in the Canal zone. The Russian Air Force commander arrived in Egypt on Saturday but a tight lid has been clamped down on details of his visit.

(In New York, Time magazine reported today that it learned last Thursday, the day before Israel agreed to a cease-fire in the Middle East, some Soviet pilots flew Egyptian air force MIG-21 fighter planes against Israeli jets. It was. says the news magazine, the first time that Soviet-piloted MIGs had been shot down. The magazine says all sides involved in the incident have “prudently refused to admit” that the Russian pilots were in the MIG planes, noting that it was an event “fraught with awesome consequences and feared by the U.S. and Israel since the Red air force began to fly missions in Egypt nearly four months ago.”) A military spokesman here told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the identity of pilots flying any planes can be determined only if their conversations with ground control have been intercepted and taped. But the military officials refused to disclose whether they had picked up any such conversations in Russian or in Russian-accented English. The spokesman also told the JTA that combat tactics are not a clue to the identity of the flyers because the Egyptian pilots have been trained by Soviet airmen and use Soviet methods. He added that Soviet pilots would not fly in Egyptian units but only in Soviet units which are based on a minimum of eight aircraft for a sortie.