James Landale reporting from Kyiv for the BBC has the story of a surprise discovery: the remains of 8 British Hurricane fighters sent to the Soviet Union early in World War 2, after Germany invaded.
...They were part of a package of allied military support for the USSR, paid for by the United States under the so-called Lend-Lease scheme.
Similar legislation is being used by the US government today to send military aid to Ukraine as it seeks to expel Russian forces from its country.
Aviation experts say this is the first time the remains of so many Hurricanes have been found in Ukraine.
"It is very rare to find this aircraft in Ukraine," says Oleks Shtan, a former airline pilot who is leading the excavation. "It's very important for our aviation history because no Lend-Lease aircraft have been found here before."
The Hurricanes were found in the process of dealing with an unexploded bomb, also from WW2. A search of the area with metal detectors led to the discovery of the aircraft remains.
They had been stripped of their instruments, radios, machine guns and any useful scrap metal. They were then dragged by tractors from a nearby airfield, broken up and dropped without ceremony into a shallow ravine. It is thought they were then covered with earth by bulldozers.
Why were they broken up and buried? Although the Hurricane had been a reliable aircraft at the start of the war, shooting down over half the attacking German planes during the Battle of Britain, by they end of the war they were regarded as obsolete and were relegated to second-line duties. It is believed they were deliberately discarded after the end of the war so that the Soviet Union would not have to reimburse Britain for intact aircraft under the terms of the lend-lease program.
Needless to say, the discovery has engendered some excitement; efforts are being made to recover as much of the aircraft as possible for eventual reconstruction and display. According to the article, it is believed there are only 14 restored Hurricanes capable of flight in the world today.
Rumors of lost aircraft from World War 2 waiting to be found have triggered other recovery efforts. There have been tales of Spitfires buried in Burma, though none have been found. Glacier Girl is a P-38 lightning forced to land on the Greenland ice cap during WW2; it was recovered from beneath the ice and restored to flying condition. During WW2, the Navy operated two improvised aircraft carriers on Lake Michigan to train pilots for carrier duty, and a number of Dauntless dive bombers, Wildcat fighters, and other aircraft ended up in the lake. Raising and restoring them has practically become a cottage industry now.
The discovery of the Hurricanes in Ukraine has particular salience because Britain is one of the suppliers of major equipment to Ukraine today, and this is a reminder of past generosity.
Valerii Romanenko, head of research at the museum, says the Hurricanes played an important part in Ukraine's history.
"The Hurricanes are a symbol of British assistance during the years of the Second World War, just as we are very appreciative of British assistance nowadays," he says. "The UK is one of the largest suppliers of military equipment to our country now."