The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) opened a criminal investigation into the crash of a Russian Il-76 military plane in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation.
The SSU will investigate the Il-76 crash
The investigation is carried out under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war).
It is noted that the special service is currently carrying out a set of measures to determine the circumstances of the plane crash. A pre-trial investigation is presently underway.
The fall of IL-76: what is known
On the afternoon of January 24, an Il-76 military plane crashed in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. Russia's MOD stated that the aircraft was allegedly flying from the Chkalovskyi military airfield (Moscow region) to Belgorod to transport Ukrainian service members for exchange.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, "the launch of two Ukrainian missiles" was recorded. All those on board were killed: 65 Ukrainian POWs, three Russian service members who accompanied them, and six crew members.
Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan made public the lists of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were allegedly on board the IL-76 that crashed on January 24.
The DIU confirmed that the planned exchange for January 24 did not occur, but the special service has no data on whether Ukrainian prisoners were on board. It noted that Ukraine was not informed about the need to ensure the safety of the flight, which may indicate that Russia deliberately created a threat to the lives and safety of prisoners of war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, without mentioning Il-76, said that they are taking all measures to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians. At the same time, the intensity of shelling from Russia has increased due to the rise in the number of military transport aircraft in Belgorod.
Russia wants to hold an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council due to the crash of a Russian Il-76 military transport plane in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, in which, according to the Russian side, Ukrainian prisoners of war were being transported for exchange.
Journalists of the "Schemes" project managed to find out the list of crew members of the Russian plane, their names and positions, as confirmed by the relatives of the dead.
So far, three of the six crew members who may have been on board the plane have been confirmed dead.
They are 36-year-old captain Stanislav Bezzubkin, flight navigator Alexei Vysokin, and 38-year-old flight engineer Andrei Piluev.
