Il-76 crash: Russian commission proved that the plane was shot down "Patriot"there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board

The Russian Investigative Committee claims that an Il-76 plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners who were being transported for exchange was shot down by a Patriot air defense system in January 2024.

According to video analysis, the first missile hit the plane at an altitude of about four kilometers, and the second did not reach the target and self-destructed. At the same time, the investigation, citing data from the flight recorder, stated that at the time of the attack, all systems of the aircraft were functioning normally. The investigative commission also published a video of the found wreckage of the plane.

The Russian Investigative Committee has said that an Il-76 airplane carrying allegedly Ukrainian POWs was shot down by a Patriot SAM system in January 2024

According to an analysis of video recordings, the first missile hit the plane at an altitude of about four kilometers,… pic.twitter.com/9ijzw5W5DE

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 25, 2024

“The Russian Investigative Committee stated that the Il-76 aircraft, which allegedly carried Ukrainian prisoners of war, was shot down by a Patriot air defense system in January 2024. According to the analysis of video recordings, the first missile hit the aircraft at an altitude of about four kilometers, and the second missile did not reach the target and At the same time, according to the investigation, citing data from the flight recorder, at the time of the attack, all the aircraft’s systems were working normally. The Investigative Committee also published a video of the collected wreckage of the aircraft. Let us recall that the Il-76 plane crashed in the Belgorod region on January 24. The Russian Ministry of Defense, on board there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six crew members and three accompanying persons, all of them died. Then the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not take direct responsibility for the downing of the plane, but stated that it was a legitimate military target, and that there were people on board the plane. there were S-300 surface-to-air missiles for shelling the Kharkov region.”

Let us recall that the Il-76 was shot down in the Belgorod area on January 24. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 65 Ukrainians, six crew members and three accompanying persons were killed.

After this, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not take direct responsibility for the downing of the plane, but stated that it was a legitimate military target, and that the plane was carrying S-300 surface-to-air missiles for bombing the Kharkov region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin January 26, 2024, commented on the crash of the Russian Il-76. He claims that the plane was hit by the Ukrainian military using a foreign-made air defense system:

“This can be seen from the elements of destruction. Our air defense systems, by definition, cannot carry out strikes on their aircraft. There are friend-or-foe systems there, and no matter how much the operator presses the button, our air defense systems would not work. Most likely, these are American Patriot or European, most likely French. But in a couple of days the exact answer will be given.”

According to him, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense knew that the Russian Federation was transporting prisoners of war. Russian and opposition Ukrainian public pages claim that the Patriot air defense system was controlled by Western mercenaries, and their main goal was to shoot down the target, for each of which they received a large reward from their employers. At the same time, they ignored the messages they received from Kyiv.

However, there are other versions.

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