Russia hides information on POWs in Il-76 from Red Cross – Ukraine's intelligence

Russia was supposed to hand over information to the International Committee of the Red Cross about Ukrainian prisoners of war who were supposedly in an Il-76 military aircraft, but has not yet done so.

Source: Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "Such information [on the condition of prisoners – ed.] should be public and passed on, in particular by Russia, to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which should verify the health, conditions and location of prisoners of war. As far as we know, no such information has been passed to the Red Cross."

Previously: 

• Defence Intelligence of Ukraine stated that Russia had not provided the UN Security Council with evidence that there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the Il-76 military transport plane that recently crashed in Belgorod Oblast and rejected the demand for an international commission to investigate what happened near Belgorod on 24 January.

Background:

• A Russian Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Korocha district of Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Sources in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. The Russian Defence Ministry said the plane was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war to Belgorod for a swap. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, two Ukrainian missiles were "fired", killing 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian POWs.
• Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan published a list of the Ukrainian prisoners of war who she alleges were on board the Il-76 aircraft that crashed. The media only knows the names of six killed crew members.
• Defence Intelligence of Ukraine confirmed that the swap scheduled for 24 January did not take place, but they had no information about the Ukrainian prisoners on board the Il-76. In the previous swap, prisoners were delivered by plane, but Ukraine was made aware of it.
• The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, without mentioning the Il-76, said it was taking all measures to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.
• Andrii Yusov said that Russian officials were supposed to be on board the Il-76, but at the last minute, the FSB forbade them to board, and only five bodies were delivered to the local morgue after the incident. He also suggested that the plane could have been carrying both missiles and people.
• Ukrainian Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets also pointed to the lack of evidence that many people were killed in the crash.

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