Russia rejects international investigation into Il-76 crash – Defence Intelligence of Ukraine

Russia has 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 rejects the demand for an international commission to investigate what happened near Belgorod on 24 January.

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

Details: Yusov stressed that at a meeting of the UN Security Council, the Deputy Secretary-General of the organisation said that the UN could not establish whether there were Ukrainian prisoners of war aboard.

Rosemary DiCarlo said that the UN was unable to verify the reports of the Ukrainian and Russian sides regarding the cargo of the Il-76, or to establish the circumstances of the crash.

Quote from Yusov: "The aggressor state has not provided any obvious evidence to support their version of events. Instead, we can repeat and state that this is a military aircraft that has been involved in the transportation of Russian weapons and enemy personnel on several occasions. And Russia did not inform Ukraine that this aircraft would be used to transport Ukrainian prisoners of war. 

As for the specific reasons for the downing of this aircraft, the demand for an open international commission is, of course, logical and reasonable. To find out for sure what exactly caused the downing of the aircraft, it is possible to examine the large remains of the aircraft, the "black boxes" and carefully examine the crash site. 

At the moment, as we hear, Russia rejects the possibility of such a commission."

Details: Yusov noted that 24 January was supposed to be one of the largest exchanges of this war and the "50th anniversary" exchange of prisoners, but it did not take place.

He added that this is not the first attempt by Russia to use the issue of prisoners of war for provocative purposes, but Ukraine will continue to work to bring back its defenders, as well as civilians, from Russian captivity.

Background:

• On 24 January, a Russian Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Korocha district of Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Sources in the General Staff stated the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that there were 65 Ukrainian soldiers on board who were being transported for a prisoner swap from the Chkalovsky airfield (Moscow Oblast) to Belgorod for exchange. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the "launch of two Ukrainian missiles" was recorded. 74 people were killed by the strike, in particular 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, the Russians claimed.
• Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan even published a list of the Ukrainian prisoners of war who she alleged were on board the Il-76 aircraft that crashed – but one of them was a soldier who had been swapped earlier.
• Defence Intelligence of Ukraine commented that a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine had been due to take place on Wednesday 24 January.  At the same time, the Defence Intelligence noted that it had no information on whether Ukrainian prisoners were on board. At the previous exchange, prisoners were delivered by plane, but then they were warned about it.
• The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, without mentioning the Іl-76, stated that they were taking all measures to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.
• Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, stated that Russian high-ranking officials should have been on board, but the FSB forbade them at a short notice, and only five bodies were delivered to the local morgue following the incident.

• Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets also pointed to the lack of evidence that many people died in the crash.

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