An anonymous US official said that the Russian transport was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war when it was shot down in Belgorod, while Kiev denied this information.
On February 9, US media quoted unnamed defense officials as saying that Patriot air defense missiles "supplied to Ukraine by a European partner" shot down the Russian Il-2 transport plane in the sky. Belgorod province late last month.
This is the first time US officials have confirmed that Patriot missiles were used in the incident, although Washington has never publicly commented on the weapon that shot down the Russian plane. The group of officials added that it was likely that at least some of the people on the plane were Ukrainian prisoners of war. “This loss of life is very unfortunate,” one person said.
Il-76 transport wreckage crashed in Belgorod province, Russia, January 24. Image: SKR
Some Western officials on the same day commented that the Ukrainian air defense team acted based on "legitimate but erroneous intelligence", emphasizing that the downed Il-76 had been carrying missiles and was considered a price target. high value for Kiev.
The White House and the Pentagon have not commented on the information.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security Council, later denied the possibility that the Il-76 was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war when it was shot down. “If this is true, Russia has published all the evidence. They have nothing to prove, things would be completely different if there really were prisoners of war there," he said.
The Russian Federal Investigative Committee said last week that DNA testing on nearly 700 body fragments found at the scene had confirmed the identities of 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
On January 24, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Il-1 heavy transport aircraft with a crew of 76 people, carrying 6 Ukrainian prisoners of war and three escorting guards, was shot down and crashed by the Ukrainian air defense unit in Kharkov province. down in the fields in Belgorod province. All people on the plane died.
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed whether any soldiers on the plane were taken prisoner or not, nor have they commented on the cause of the Il-76 crash. However, before the plane crash occurred, Ukraine's military intelligence agency announced that there was a planned prisoner exchange taking place on the same day.
Russia has released a list of 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on the Il-76, along with videos of their bodies and documents. Ukraine's agency in charge of prisoner management confirmed the list includes those who will be exchanged. Ukrainian officials said Russia had not yet handed over the bodies of dead prisoners of war, while the Kremlin confirmed that Moscow had not received a return proposal from Kiev.
Vu Anh (Follow RT, Ukrainskaya Pravda, Babel)
