President Leonid Kuchma presented the minister's resignation during a cabinet meeting at which the military readiness of the armed forces stationed in Crimea, on the Black Sea, was discussed.

In April, Kuchma fired the head of the navy during an unscheduled visit to a Black Sea navy base which he discovered was in dire condition.

Shkidchenko was appointed to his post in October 2002, his predecessor Olexander Kuzmuk having resigned after a Ukrainian missile accidentally downed a Russian passenger plane, killing 78 people, in 2001.

After repeated denials, the Ukrainian defence ministry finally conceded that a Ukrainian S-200 ground-to-air missile had downed the plane after debris recovered from the Black Sea had indicated a missile impact.

Like the military in neighboring Russia, the armed forces of Ukraine have struggled from chronic under-funding since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Kuchma was heading to Crimea when he asked his entourage to change course for a quick inspection of a nearby base.

During his visit, Kuchma saw that most of the equipment at the base had been pilfered while sailors lived in terrible condition.

WAR.WIRE