Russian Il-76 aircraft crash: names of crew members revealed – photo

Journalists from the Skhem (Schemes) investigation project have identified the names of the crew members of the Russian Il-76 aircraft that crashed in the morning of 24 January in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast.

Source: Skhemy (Radio Liberty)

Details: The journalists acquired a list of the six-person crew that was supposed to accompany the flight and verified their positions and affiliation with military aviation.

Relatives confirmed the deaths of three of them: 36-year-old aircraft commander Stanislav Bezzubkin, navigator Alexei Vysokin, and 38-year-old flight engineer Andrei Piluev. 

The death of Bezzubkin, the plane's commander, was confirmed by his wife, Marika. Marika said she had been informed of this by the Russian Ministry of Defence. Marika said that she last spoke to her husband at around 07:30 (Russian time – ed.), the time when she believes he was supposed to be flying out of Moscow.

Piluev's wife said that she knew about his death, but she had not yet been officially provided with detailed information.

According to open-source information, Piluev was awarded the medal 'For the Return of Crimea' and for participating in hostilities in Syria.

Vysokin's death was confirmed by his cousin. She said that she had learned about it from his parents.

The photo of another Il-76 crew member, on-board radio operator Igor Sablinsky, was followed by comments on social media expressing condolences over his death.

The flight was also supposed to be serviced by a flight engineer of airborne equipment, Sergei Zhitenev, and an assistant commander named Chmirev, but so far there is no independent confirmation of their deaths.

According to leaks from Russian databases, the 117th Military Transport Aviation Regiment is listed as the place of service for five crew members. The same information was published by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) in March 2022, listing Bezzubkin, Vysokin, Piluev, Zhitenev and Sablinsky as members of the 117th Separate Transport Aviation Regiment "who deliver weapons and ammunition to kill Ukrainian civilians".

The 117th Regiment is a military unit No. 45097 in Orenburg Oblast. According to public records, this regiment is engaged in the maintenance of military vehicles transporting special cargo for the material supply of the Russian army. The aircraft of this regiment are based at the airfield in Orenburg.

The Russian authorities' claim that there were also Ukrainian prisoners of war on board has not been independently verified.

Background:

• On the afternoon of 24 January, an Il-76 military aircraft crashed in Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Ukrainska Pravda's sources in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.
• Following the crash of the Russian Il-76, a number of Russian media outlets cited Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Defence. He claimed that the plane contained dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who had been taken for exchange, and Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that he was looking into the situation.
• Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence confirmed that an exchange of prisoners was planned for 24 January but it was not taking place.
• Russian propagandists have published a "list of the Ukrainian prisoners of war" who were allegedly on board the crashed Il-76, including the name of a soldier who had been swapped earlier.

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