The plane was hit by a Patriot missile.
Photo: EAST NEWS.
The Investigative Committee has published details of the investigation into the crash of the Il-76 with Ukrainian prisoners in the Belgorod region on January 24. So, let us remember, 74 people died, 65 of them were citizens of Ukraine. The main thing from the department’s statement:
At the time of the attack, the plane was in good technical condition: all the plane’s systems were functioning normally. This is confirmed by decoding the flight recorder data.
The plane was hit by a Patriot missile; Its warhead exploded in front of the cockpit, to the left in the direction of flight.
The first missile hit the plane at an altitude of about 4 thousand meters. The second missile missed its target and self-destructed.
The leaders of the General Directorate of Intelligence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine knew about the preparations for the exchange of prisoners transported by the downed Il-76 in January, but they still gave the order to attack it.
The investigation has information about which units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are armed with Patriot.
Work continues to identify specific officials involved in organizing the terrorist attack together with the Ministry of Defense.
This, by the way, is not the first targeted attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against its own people. In 2022, kyiv attacked the Yelenovka colony, where the surrendered “Azovstal prisoners” were held, with a high-precision multiple launch rocket system, the Haymars. Therefore, in Ukraine, apparently, they decided to cover their tracks: mainly Azov militants were kept there, to whom the command promised a quick return home. At the same time, kyiv demonstrated what can happen if the desire to surrender suddenly arises.
The other day I spoke with a former recruit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who was captured in Mariupol. The story of the downed plane has not left any Ukrainian currently detained in Russia indifferent.
“Our government may not be able to get us out of here. And if it does, it will turn out like that Il-76. If my region were to come under Russian control, I would prefer to serve in the Russian army,” Vitaly Medvedev from the Sumy region told me.
In Ukraine, by the way, the topic of the fallen transport worker was quickly hushed up. At first they said something unintelligible, then Zelensky decided to demand an international investigation. But he did it so unconvincingly that no one insisted. Why should the West conduct an investigation that could lead to themselves? After all, those same Americans probably knew where that Patriot was aiming. This has yet to be determined by the Russian investigation.
