Il-76 plane crash scene (Photo: Telegram).
"The Ukrainian side was informed 15 minutes before the plane entered the area. They were provided with full information. The Main Directorate of Military Intelligence of Ukraine also confirmed receiving the information," head of the Russian Parliament's Defense Committee Andrei Kartapolov said on January 25.
“We all know very well what happened next,” the MP added.
On January 24, a Russian Il-76 transport plane carrying 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, crashed in the Belgorod region (Russia). The accident killed everyone on board.
Moscow accused Kiev of shooting down the plane with a missile. Ukraine has neither denied nor confirmed responsibility for the incident, but President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Moscow for "playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war." Kiev also said the Il-76 plane was carrying an S-300 missile.
Mr Kartapolov's assertion contradicts an earlier statement by Ukraine's military intelligence agency that Moscow did not inform it in advance about the flight schedule.
Ukrainian Military Intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said Kiev had not received any written or oral requests from Russia to avoid attacks in the area where the aircraft operated.
According to Mr. Yusov, at the time of the accident, two other Russian military aircraft, An-26 and An-72, were also in the area.
“We can assume various scenarios, including provocations, as well as the use of Ukrainian prisoners as human shields to transport ammunition and weapons for S-300 systems,” he said.
Russia and Ukraine continue to give 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 to Moscow for analysis.
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