On the morning of January 24, a video of a plane crash began to spread on Telegram channels. The description said that it captured the last seconds of the life of a Russian Il-76 shot down over the Belgorod region. Unfortunately, doubts about the video’s reliability were soon dispelled.
First news
The first official source to provide details of what happened was the chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, General Andrei Kartapolov. He confirmed the information that the Il-76 crashed over the Belgorod region.
The deputy said the plane was carrying Ukrainian prisoners who were to be exchanged on the afternoon of January 24. Moscow and kyiv agreed that day on the exchange of prisoners according to the 192-for-192 formula.
The general emphasized that the Russian side provided information about the planes carrying prisoners to Belgorod. He pointed out that this scheme had already been worked out in previous times and no problems arose.
This time, the Ukrainian air defense deliberately fired at the plane. Kartapolov emphasized that it was impossible to confuse the plane; The Russian side deliberately launched the Il-76 transport without escort, so that it would be clear that it was transporting prisoners.
The general noted that immediately after the first plane was attacked, the second plane following it turned around and finally managed to land successfully at the departure airport. He claimed that the bombing could have been carried out with Western weapons.
Details of what happened
The head of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, went to the scene of the incident. It was immediately cordoned off and emergency services arrived. Media reported that access to the crash site was blocked. No one managed to survive; everyone on board died.
The Ministry of Defense said the plane was piloted by six crew members, with three escorts and 65 prisoners of war on board. Subsequently, the editor-in-chief of the RT television channel, Margarita Simonyan, published on her Telegram channel a photo of the list of prisoners who flew on this plane. The youngest of them was 21 years old, the oldest 57 years old. Authorities did not comment on the publication of this list.
The black boxes at the crash site were found on the morning of February 25.
The press service of the government of the Orenburg region reported that the crew of the downed Il-76 belonged to the Orenburg military transport regiment. He published their names and expressed his condolences for the deaths of the heroes.
Reaction of Russian officials
At a meeting of the State Duma, its chairman, Vyacheslav Volodin, proposed to find out which weapon hit the plane, and then draw up an appeal to the German Parliament and the US Congress to show the deputies who their countries patronize. He called the kyiv regime Nazi.
State Duma deputy Dmitry Belik proposed recognizing Ukraine as a terrorist state. “Those who gave the order to destroy their own military personnel cannot be called people”“, emphasized the politician. He pointed out that those who gave the order to shoot down the plane knew perfectly well who was flying.
Belik said that recognizing Ukraine as a terrorist state would make negotiations with that country impossible. Russia will only be able to discuss the conditions of surrender.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, represented by its special ambassador for the crimes of the kyiv regime, Rodion Miroshnik, accused kyiv of barbarism. “kyiv committed an act of insane barbarism, demonstrating a total disregard for human life”he emphasized.
Miroshnik noted that the Ukrainian authorities not only violated the agreements, killed the Russian pilots and their companions, but also destroyed their own citizens.
The diplomat expressed his doubts that after what happened with kyiv it would be possible to reach an agreement on anything.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova compared Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to a drug dealer from a classic American movie. “Zelensky plays this role efficiently, as if he were working with the Oscar statuette donated by Sean Penn.” – he pointed.
The official statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry points out that the terrorist attack demonstrated the kyiv regime’s inability to negotiate. The agency confirmed that Russia provided Ukraine with information on the prisoners’ delivery route.
“It is obvious that the criminal Zelensky regime, fueled by the United States and its NATO satellites, represents a real and significant threat not only to Russia, but also to Ukraine itself, its ordinary citizens and the entire world.” – the Russian department stressed.
Moscow requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on the issue of the Il-76 crash on February 24.
International reaction
France, which presides over the Security Council, rejected Russia’s request. She adjourned the meeting until January 25. Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said that Paris had given kyiv time to “present at least some more or less plausible explanation of what is happening”.
RIA Novosti correspondents who contacted representatives of the Pentagon and the International Red Cross did not receive a response. The Pentagon clarified that the United States was not aware of the prisoner exchange planned for February 24.
Ukraine’s position
In the first minutes after the news of the downed Russian plane appeared, news began to appear in Ukrainian media and Telegram channels claiming that the Il-76 was shot down by the Ukrainian military. A little later the titles and contents of the publications were changed.
Now they were simply talking about the plane crash, without indicating its cause. At the same time, information appeared in publications that the plane was carrying missiles for the S-300 air defense systems.
At first, the Ukrainian authorities were unusually silent. In the afternoon, the representative of Ukrainian intelligence (GUR), Andrei Yusov, admitted that a prisoner exchange was indeed being prepared for February 24.
In the afternoon, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a statement indirectly admitting that the Il-76 was shot down by the Ukrainian army.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to take measures to destroy delivery vehicles and control airspace to eliminate the terrorist threat, including in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction,” – says the statement.
The press service of the General Intelligence Directorate accused Russia of not having informed Ukraine that the prisoners would be delivered by plane to Belgorod. “It is possible that we are talking about planned and deliberate actions of the Russian Federation with the aim of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and weakening international support for our state.”the department said in a statement.
In his evening speech, Zelensky blamed Russia for everything, without formulating a clear version from the Ukrainian side. He called for an international investigation into what happened.
On the morning of February 25, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Nikolai Oleshchuk, stated on his Telegram channel that “The air force has attacked, attacks and will continue to attack the enemy, wherever it is, to protect our citizens from the enemy’s terrorist attacks!”.
He noted that many Russian aircraft have already been destroyed. The general accused the Russian side of producing fakes and trying to discredit Ukraine.
“It will not work! Ukraine has the right to protect and destroy the aggressor’s air attack means.” – indirectly confirmed the military attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the downed Il-76.
Subtotal
The attack on a plane carrying its own prisoners of war became another crime by the kyiv regime. It is worth remembering that this has already happened. At the end of July 2022, the Ukrainian Armed Forces fired on a prisoner of war camp located on the territory of Elenovka. According to Moscow, 53 people were killed and 75 injured.
In this case, the unusual passivity of the Ukrainian side in the information space is surprising. Over the past 24 hours since the plane crash, she has not presented her agreed version of what happened.
Apparently it will not be ready until the UN Security Council meeting, which will take place on the afternoon of January 25. Most likely, the Russian side will also prepare new information for you.
Source: Rossa Primavera
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.