Russia releases video of Ukrainian prisoners boarding a plane before the tragedy.

According to RT (Russia), a one-minute video released by the Russian Investigative Committee on January 26 shows several trucks approaching a military transport plane parked on a snow-covered runway.

Investigators described the video as showing "Ukrainian prisoners boarding the Il-76 that crashed in the Belgorod region following an attack."

Russia releases video of Ukrainian prisoners boarding the crashed Il-76 aircraft (Source: RT).

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights official, rejected the documents released by Russia, accusing them of being "elements of a propaganda campaign against Ukraine."

On January 24, a Russian Il-76 transport plane carrying 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners, crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia. The accident resulted in the deaths of everyone on board.

Russia and Ukraine continue to provide conflicting information and call for an investigation. Currently, only Russian officials have access to the crash site. According to TASS news agency, Russian investigators have found the plane's two black boxes and brought them back to Moscow for analysis.

Moscow accused Kyiv of shooting down the plane with a missile. Ukraine neither denied nor confirmed responsibility for the incident, but President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Moscow for "toying with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners." Kyiv also stated that the Il-76 aircraft was carrying S-300 missiles when it crashed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on January 26th that the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (GUR) knew in advance that Russia would transfer 65 Ukrainian servicemen to the prisoner-of-war zone, but despite knowing this information, they still "shot down the plane".

According to President Putin, objects recovered from the crash site indicate that either American or French anti-aircraft missiles were used to shoot down the Il-76 aircraft.

Earlier, Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Russian Parliament's Defense Committee, said that Ukraine was notified 15 minutes before the Il-76 aircraft entered the area. Russian officials said that the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate also received this information.

Ukrainian Military Intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said that Kyiv had not received any written or verbal request from Russia to avoid attacks in the area where the aircraft were operating.

According to Yusov, at the time of the accident, two other Russian military aircraft, an An-26 and an An-72, were also present in the area.

The Russian Investigative Committee said the anti-aircraft missile that struck the Il-76 transport plane in Russia's Belgorod region was launched from the village of Liptsy in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine.

At a UN Security Council meeting on January 25, Russia's Deputy Special Envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, emphasized that all available information regarding the suspected downing of a Russian Il-76 military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners by Ukraine indicates a deliberate act of aggression.

Ukraine announced on January 26 that Russia had returned the bodies of 77 soldiers, days after the plane was shot down.

Source