24/01/2024, Updated 10 hours ago|Source: ČTK, Reuters, ČT24, Ukrainska pravda
Events: The crash of a Russian plane (source: ČT24)
An Il-76 military aircraft crashed in Russia’s Belgorod region. On board the transport plane, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six crew members and three other people. According to the Ukrainian server Ukrainska Pravda, the plane was carrying S-300 missiles. Information from both parties cannot be immediately independently verified. According to Russian authorities, all people on board died. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for an international investigation into the plane crash.
A video published on the Baza Telegram channel, which is linked to Russian security services, shows a large plane crashing to the ground and the subsequent explosion. According to the Russian media, everyone on board died, which was later confirmed by regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. The wreckage of the plane is scattered over an area of five kilometers, Baza writes, according to which some fell on the lands of local residents.
“A transport plane crashed in Koročanský district. He fell in a field near a populated place. All on board died,” the governor wrote. “The crash site is now closed. All operational services are there,” he added. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the cause of the plane crash is being investigated, and a military commission headed to the scene of the plane crash.
Russia claims Ukraine is behind the attack
Meanwhile, a high-ranking diplomat at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Rodion Miroshnik, said, according to the Russian state agency TASS, that the plane was shot down by Ukraine. Russian MP Andrey Kartapolov claims it did so with three Patriot or Iris-T missiles supplied to Kyiv by the West. He also claims that another identical plane with another eight dozen prisoners was flying behind the crashed plane, which it turned around. The MP did not provide sources for his statements.
“The Russian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claim that there were Ukrainian prisoners on board the plane. At the same time, a list of these prisoners appeared on social networks, which was shared, for example, by Margarita Simonjanová, one of the main propagandists of the Russian regime,” said ČT foreign correspondent Darja Stomatová.
The Russian Ministry of Defense later said that the plane was hit by missiles fired by Ukrainian forces from the village of Lypci in Kharkiv Oblast. The radars reportedly picked up two missiles.
Moscow called on the UN Security Council to hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to discuss the downing of the plane. The move was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who also spoke of the “criminal” downing of the plane.
Server Ukrainska pravda in the first version of the accident report he wrote, that his sources in the Ukrainian armed forces confirmed the information about the downing of the plane, saying that it “was their work”. He later edited his text and writes in his conclusion that he removed this information because another source did not confirm it. According to a source in the General Staff, the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, which the Russians use to shell Kharkiv, the server wrote.
Stomatová described as interesting the analysis of the OSINT group, whose Ukrainian analysts identified the place from where the plane crash was filmed. “According to analysts, the plane was not heading towards the Ukrainian border, but from it in the direction from Belgorod to the northeast of Russia. They noted that allegedly the same plane with the same number was seen over Armenia on Tuesday heading towards Iran,” the reporter added.
Zelenskyy did not confirm the claims of prisoners on board
In his regular evening speech, Ukrainian President Zelensky neither confirmed nor denied whether his compatriots were actually on board. “It is necessary to clearly establish all the facts,” Ukrainian media quoted the head of state as saying. “As much as possible, given that the plane crashed on Russian territory, beyond our control,” the president added.
According to him, the Ukrainian intelligence services are now investigating the fate of the captives and all the circumstances of the plane crash. “I instructed Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to inform partners about the facts available to Ukraine. Our country will insist on an international investigation,” the president said.
The General Staff of his country had previously published declarationin which, according to the Unian agency, he made it clear that Kiev troops will continue to shoot down enemy planes carrying missiles to the airport in Belgorod intended for shelling Kharkiv and the surrounding areas.
The first statement of the Ukrainian General Staff did not bring clarity about what happened, the Russian editors of the BBC concluded. However, Ukrainian military intelligence has accused Russia of thwarting a planned prisoner exchange under the pretext of the Il-76 crash, although it remains unclear who or what was on board the plane, according to RBK Ukraine.
She also reminded that ensuring the safety of captured Ukrainian soldiers was the responsibility of the Russian side, and the Kyiv authorities were not informed about the way the prisoners were transported and the route. Intelligence also accused Russia that it could have been a pre-planned operation aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and weakening its international support.
Ukraine’s Prisoner of War Coordination Staff previously claimed that it was collecting and analyzing all the necessary information and urged citizens and the media not to spread unverified reports and wait for an official statement. “The enemy is actively conducting a special information operation against Ukraine aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian society,” the staff pointed out. He neither confirmed nor denied the reports of the Russian Ministry about the Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the plane, the Meduza website noted.
In the morning, the correspondent of CT in Russia, Karel Rožánek, recalled the claims of the Russian Ministry of Defense about the downing of an unmanned aircraft over the Belgorod region and the declaration of a missile alert in the region.
The Il-76 is an army aircraft designed to transport troops, cargo, military equipment and weapons. It has a standard crew of five and room for up to ninety passengers.
The Belgorod region is adjacent to Ukraine and has been facing attacks, incidents and accidents of varying intensity since the full-scale Russian invasion.
