Russia releases list of prisoners allegedly supposed to be returned to Ukraine on 24 January
Ukraine’s Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has said that after a long delay Russia has released a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war who, according to Russia’s claims, were on board of the Il-76 aircraft that crashed in Russia on 24 January.
Source: Ukraine’s Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War
Quote: "During a meeting with Dmytro Usov [Deputy Head of Defence Intelligence – ed.] we found out that after a long delay Russia has responded to numerous requests and cited a list that had earlier been shared by Russian propaganda media.
The Coordination Staff confirms that 65 Ukrainian soldiers from this list were really going to be brought back to Ukraine as part of a planned exchange on 24 January."
Details: The Coordination Staff said that the relatives of the soldiers from the list had seen photographs from the site where the aircraft crashed and could not identify their relatives based on the fragments of bodies they saw in those pictures.
Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Coordination Staff, said that there is currently no verified information about who was really on board the Il-76 aircraft.
Quote from Budanov: "We are gathering and carefully analysing all available information, from multiple sources, regarding this. We currently don’t have evidence that there could have been that many people on board the aircraft. Russian propaganda’s claim that the Il-76 aircraft was transporting 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war for prisoner exchange continues to raise a lot of questions."
Details: Serhii Andrushchenko, First Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Security Service, added that Russia’s latest actions suggest that Russia is trying to conceal the real cause of the crash from the public.
Quote from Andrushchenko: "Russia immediately said that it would not let international experts investigate the Il-76M crash. But Ukraine will use every available instrument to find out the real causes of what happened and who or what was really transported in that aircraft."
Background:
- A Russian Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Korocha district of Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Sources in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. The Russian Defence Ministry said the plane was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war to Belgorod for a swap. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, two Ukrainian missiles were "fired", killing 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian POWs.
- Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan published a list of the Ukrainian prisoners of war who she alleges were on board the Il-76 aircraft that crashed. Only the names of the six dead crew members are known to the media.
- Defence Intelligence of Ukraine confirmed that the swap scheduled for 24 January did not take place, but they had no information about the Ukrainian prisoners on board the Il-76. In the previous swap, prisoners were delivered by plane, but Ukraine was made aware of it.
- The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, without mentioning the Il-76, said it was taking all measures to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.
- Andrii Yusov said that Russian officials were supposed to be on board the Il-76, but at the last minute, the FSB forbade them to board, and only five bodies were delivered to the local morgue after the incident. He also suggested that the plane could have been carrying both missiles and people.
- Ukrainian Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets also pointed to the lack of evidence that many people were killed in the crash.
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