Russia rejects international investigation into Il-76 crash – Ukraine's Defence Intelligence

Russia has not provided the UN Security Council with any evidence that there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the Il-76 military transport plane that recently crashed in Belgorod Oblast and has rejected a request for an international commission to investigate what happened near Belgorod on 24 January.

Source: Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Details: Yusov recalled that the UN Under-Secretary-General said at a meeting of the UN Security Council that the UN could not establish whether Ukrainian prisoners of war had been on board.

Rosemary DiCarlo said that the UN was not in a position to verify Ukrainian and Russian reports regarding the cargo being carried by the Il-76, or to establish the circumstances of the crash.

Quote from Yusov: "The aggressor state has not provided any clear evidence to support their version of events. We, however, can reiterate and state that this is a military aircraft that has been involved in the transportation of Russian weapons and enemy personnel on several occasions. And Russia did not inform Ukraine that this aircraft would be used to transport Ukrainian prisoners of war. 

Regarding the specific reasons for the downing of this aircraft, the demand for an open international commission to be set up is, of course, logical and reasonable. To find out exactly what caused the downing of the aircraft, the large remnants of the aircraft and the "black boxes" can be examined and the crash site carefully inspected. 

At the moment, as we have heard, Russia rejects the possibility of such a commission."

Details: Yusov noted that the exchange on 24 January was supposed to have been one of the largest of the war and the "milestone" 50th prisoner swap, but it did not take place.

He added that this is not the first time Russia has tried to use the issue of prisoners of war for provocation purposes, but that Ukraine will continue to work to bring back its defenders, as well as civilians, from Russian captivity.

Background:

• On 24 January, a Russian Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Korocha district of Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Sources in the General Staff stated the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that there were 65 Ukrainian soldiers on board who were being transported for a prisoner swap from the Chkalovsky airfield (Moscow Oblast) to Belgorod for exchange. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the "launch of two Ukrainian missiles" was recorded. 74 people were killed by the strike, in particular 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, the Russians claimed.
• Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan even published a list of the Ukrainian prisoners of war who she alleged were on board the Il-76 aircraft that crashed. Only the names of the six dead crew members are known to the media.
• Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence commented that a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine had been due to take place on Wednesday 24 January.  However, Defence Intelligence noted that it had no information on whether Ukrainian prisoners were on board. Prisoners had been delivered by plane at the previous exchange, but advance warning had been given.
• The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated, without mentioning the Іl-76, that they were taking all measures to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.
• Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, stated that Russian high-ranking officials should have been on board, but at the last minute, the FSB forbade them to board the aircraft. He said only five bodies were delivered to the local morgue following the incident. Yusov also suggested that the plane could have been carrying both missiles and people.

• Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets has also pointed to the lack of evidence that a large number of people died in the crash.

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