A russian military transport plane, which was supposed to be carrying S-300 missiles to bomb Ukraine, went down in the Belgorod region. Find out what is known about the crash and what statements have been made by russia and Ukraine

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On January 24, an IL-76 military transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region. Immediately after the crash, russia claimed that Ukraine had allegedly shot down a plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange with three Patriot missiles. We will analyze whether the russian side's statements are true and what Ukraine says about them in the article below.

is russia lying again?

Several facts prove that the statements of the russian side are not true:

1. The statement about the crash and the perpetrators was made within minutes after the IL-76 went down. Instead, russia remained silent for a long time about the downing of the A-50 over the Sea of Azov, and then called it "an incident and friendly fire from its own air defense system," which is not true, because the plane was shot down by Ukrainian forces. So, as a rule, when russia suffers some unexpected blows and losses, it is silent, but when it staged an incident to accuse Ukraine, it shouts loudly from the first minutes.

2. The statement that there were three escorts on the plane also raises doubts, because, as a rule, the number of escorts almost coincides with the number of prisoners when russia moves Ukrainian prisoners of war somewhere. This means that for the claimed 65 prisoners, there should have been about the same number of escorts.

3. The statement about what exactly and from where Ukraine allegedly shot down IL-76 was made by russian representatives before the commission that was supposed to establish the causes of the crash arrived at the crash site. And when the commission did arrive, the crash site was surrounded, expelling everyone, including rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

 4. russia claimed that the plane was shot down allegedly from Liptsy, Kharkiv region, i.e. from a distance of about 100 km. If this is possible, then why Ukraine does not shoot down russian Su-30s and Su-34s from this location, which are constantly bombing the region, is an open question.

5. russia did not provide any evidence that there were prisoners on board, and the video showed two dead people near the crash site. Instead, after the tragedy in Olenivka, when russia deliberately hit prisoners of war with missiles, they immediately published dozens of photos from the scene.

6. According to the recorded trajectory on Flightradar, the IL-76 took off and moved from Belgorod to the north of the city - on the Belgorod-Oskolets route, i.e., away from the border with Ukraine. This again contradicts russian statements, as they claimed that the plane was being flown to the Ukrainian border, allegedly for an exchange.

7. The list of allegedly killed prisoners published by russian propagandists is fake. After all, at least 18 people from this list have already been exchanged in early January 2024.

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What does Ukraine say about the downing of the plane?

So far, there have been no official statements from Ukraine about the downing of the russian plane and the passengers on board. All the circumstances of the crash are currently being established. At the same time, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that Ukraine is taking all measures to protect the country and Ukrainians, including in the Kharkiv region, as it is the region that is constantly bombed.

"In order to reduce the missile threat, the Armed Forces of Ukraine not only control the airspace, but also monitor in detail the missile launch points and logistics of their supply, especially with the use of military transport aircraft. The recorded intensity of the shelling is directly related to the increase in the number of military transport aircraft that have recently been flying to the Belhorod airfield. In view of this, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to take measures to destroy the means of delivery and control the airspace to destroy the terrorist threat, in particular on the Belgorod-Kharkiv direction," the statement said.

The General Staff did not comment on the downing itself, but the Main Intelligence Directorate (MID) said that the planned exchange of prisoners of war, which was to take place on January 24, did not take place. At the same time, the Ukrainian side fulfilled all the agreements on the exchange and was not informed about the need to ensure the security of the airspace near the city of Belgorod within a certain period of time, as it had been done many times in the past. 

Why would russia stage a downing of a plane with prisoners?

The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine emphasized that this incident could be a planned and deliberate action by russia to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and weaken international support for our country. And therein lies another problem. Unfortunately, this situation is beneficial to russia, and in this way it can hide its crimes by passing off the killed prisoners of war as those who were allegedly on the IL-76 plane.

At the same time, on the morning of January 25, putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that russia agreed to an international investigation into the downing of the IL-76 near Belgorod, but only if it was "considered a crime of the Ukrainian authorities."

"If he (Zelenskyy - ed.) means an international investigation into the criminal actions of the Kyiv regime, it is definitely needed," Peskov said. But he could not answer the question of why Ukraine would shoot down planes with its prisoners.

The American Institute for the Study of War said that russia is using the IL-76 crash to stir up discontent in Ukraine.

We remind you! Ukrainian business has reacted sharply to the detention of businessman Igor Mazepa and calls what is happening a "war between business and law enforcement." Read more about why the case is so high-profile and what entrepreneurs are willing to do to be heard from the top in our previous article.

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