2024-01-25 01:02 Compiled by United Daily News Zhou Chenyang/Comprehensive Report A Russian military transport plane crashed in the Belgorod Oblast adjacent to the Ukrainian border, carrying 65 Ukrainian military combatants…
A Russian military transport plane crashed on the 24th in the Belgorod region adjacent to the Ukrainian border. Russia claimed that there were 74 people on board at the time, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war to be exchanged. All personnel were killed. , no one survived. The Russian Defense Ministry accused the Ukrainian military of shooting down the plane, but Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm or deny the Russian claim and said they were investigating.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the Ilyushin I1-76 transport plane crashed in Belgorod Oblast at 11:15 a.m. local time. It was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and six crew members for a prisoner exchange. personnel and three accompanying persons. Footage of the crash uploaded to social media showed a large plane falling from the sky into the snowy countryside before exploding into a huge fireball.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Defense, Russian radar recorded the launch of two missiles in the Kharkov region of Ukraine, but no evidence was provided.
Tass news agency reported that firefighters and ambulances rushed to the crash site. Belgorod Governor Gratkaev posted on social media that a transport plane crashed in a field near the village and everyone on board was killed.
After the news of the crash came out, some Ukrainian media reported that it might have been shot down by the Ukrainian army, but they later corrected it. Ukraine’s Pravda newspaper first quoted a Ukrainian military source to confirm that the transport plane crashed, saying “this is their job.” Sources from the Ukrainian General Staff said that the aircraft was transporting S-300 air defense systems at the time, and did not mention the Ukrainian prisoners of war mentioned by Russia. However, the Ukrainian Pravda newspaper later corrected it and pointed out that the source did not “indicate” that Ukraine was involved. According to reports, Russia recently used S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to attack Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.
Ukraine’s prisoner exchange agency said it was investigating the crash and called on people not to spread “unverified information.”
Kataporov, chairman of the Defense Committee of the “State Duma” in the lower house of the Russian Parliament, condemned the Ukrainian army for deliberately shooting down the transport plane, saying that the plane was shot down by three missiles and that it was a model supplied to Ukraine by Western countries. However, he did not explain The source also said that the investigation will reveal whether the US-made “Patriot” system or the German-made “IRIS-T” system that shot down the transport plane.
Kataporov said that Ukraine deliberately sabotaged the prisoner exchange operation. They were well aware that the prisoner exchange was about to take place and were informed of the flight route for transporting prisoners of war. At that time, there were two planes carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war, and Moscow had to urgently Let the second I1-76 carrying 80 captured soldiers turn away from the danger area.
He said it was impossible for Ukraine’s surface-to-air missiles to mistake the transport plane for a military aircraft or helicopter. He also noted that in light of the tragedy, any prisoner exchange was “off the table for now.”
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2024-01-24 17:02:06
