Il-76 crash: Ukraine's Defence Intelligence suggests that "both S-300 missiles and people" could have been on board

Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (DIU) said that there are suspicions that the Russian side may have used Ukrainian prisoners of war as human shields for transporting ammunition and weaponry for missile systems.

Source: Andrii Yusov, representative of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and the Coordination Headquarters, in a comment to Radio Liberty

Quote: "Onboard could have been both missiles for S-300s, and missiles and people at the same time. We are talking about a large military aircraft. Only one-third of it was loaded, according to their statements.

Was there any sense in using this particular aircraft? Also, concurrently with it, there were other aircraft: an AN-26 and an AN-72 were in the airspace near the IL before the accident. Many circumstances require investigation and thorough examination."

Details: Yusov said that, according to international law, the state that detains prisoners of war is responsible for their safety, including transportation for exchange. 

Ukraine has fulfilled all conditions and obligations. Yusov said that the intelligence considers various scenarios, including a deliberate provocation, potentially using Ukrainian prisoners of war as a human shield for transporting ammunition and weaponry for missile systems that target Ukrainian cities.

At the same time, Yusov acknowledges the possibility that Russia could have intentionally downed the aircraft itself. He said that, for example, Russian air defence forces might have identified a Ukrainian reconnaissance UAV as a target, but the fired missiles or the anti-aircraft missile system crew made a mistake and accidentally shot down their aircraft – this is one of the versions.

Quote: "As of now, we can state that this is effectively a combat zone. During this time and on this day, there was active use of unmanned aerial vehicles on both sides. Specifically, this includes Ukraine's deployment of reconnaissance UAVs, which, in turn, could have been targeted by air defence and anti-missile systems of the aggressor.

Indeed, this is the scenario that has occurred multiple times in Russia, where so-called 'friendly fire' destroyed their aviation, both transport and military. It is crucial to emphasise once again that we are currently talking about a military aircraft in which there should not have been any prisoners at all."

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