The situation with the Russian IL-76 plane crash, which happened on January 24, is an equation with many unknowns. However, one thing is clear at the moment that the work of Russian propaganda is maximally synchronous. According to preparations made in advance, and has many signs of a carefully planned special ops of the Russia's special services.
Russian propaganda unitedly works regarding the Il-76 plane crash
Analyst Yuriy Goncharenko noticed in various reports of the Russian mass media about the downfall of the Il-76 signs of a planned special information operation.
Honcharenko announced this on his Facebook.
The first reports from the Belgorod region, as early as 10:00 a.m. that day, concerned the announcement of an air alert in Belgorod. It is clear that the announcement of an air alert for the population is uncharacteristic in cases of enemy air defense targeting aerial targets, the analyst writes.
According to him, messages about the alleged presence of a "Ukrainian aircraft-type drone" in the sky over Belgorod began to appear almost immediately in the Belgorod Telegram channels. In just a few minutes, local chat rooms reported the activation of Russian anti-aircraft defense and the traces of rocket explosions.
Z-bloggers cheerfully and quickly reported on "the suppression of a terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime using an aircraft-type UAV on the objects of the Russian Federation" and "the destruction of a drone over the Belgorod region," Goncharenko reports.
And immediately after that, the well-known video of the fall of the IL-76, which was released by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, spread across the network.
It is noteworthy that many Russians in their comments immediately logically assumed, saying "did we shoot down our own plane again?". Needless to say, as of now, there are no reports of an air alert in the Belgorod region, nor information about a "downed Ukrainian UAV" on Russian social media: the posts have either been deleted or changed, the analyst noted
According to Honcharenko, the real gift for Russian propaganda was some Ukrainian mass media, which, citing unnamed "sources", announced the alleged downing of the Il-76 by the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
However, the question arises: what could have been shot down by the Russian IL in this area, apart from the Russian anti-aircraft missile? Only Patriot has a similar damage range. However, if this system were present on this part of the front, we would almost every night observe the downing of Russian "sushoks", which regularly terrorize the border areas of Sumy region and Kharkiv region, - sums up Goncharenko.
However, to the analyst, it seems extremely illogical that the Ukrainian Air Force ignores enemy fighters-bombers, but targets a transporter on the day of the planned exchange of prisoners of war and right near the place where the exchange was supposed to take place.
But the Russian "jackal express" has already sped up [with messages]: "Ukrainians killed Ukrainians with American missiles, Bandera’s terrorists" and everything like this. According to the same model, Russian propaganda worked both in the case of the terrorist attack in Olenivka and after the MH17 downing.
The fact that the representatives of the negotiation group of Russia's Ministry of Defense General Egorov and State Duma deputy Shamsail Saraliev did not get on board the Il-76 at the last moment adds a special flavor to the whole situation. What did they know to change their plans so suddenly? — asks Honcharenko.
This whole situation is an equation with many unknowns that we still have to solve, the observer ensures. One thing is clear for sure that the maximally synchronous work of Russian propaganda, apparently based on preparations made in advance, practically excludes the "surprise" of the event for the Russians, but has more and more, however, a carefully planned special operation.
The crash of the IL-76 plane: what is known
Russian propaganda media spread information with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation that a Russian Il-76 military transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region during a scheduled flight.
At the same time, they said that there were allegedly 65 captured Ukrainian servicemen on board, who were being transported to the Belgorod region for exchange, as well as six crew members and three escorts.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that specialised structures of Ukraine are currently collecting information and analyzing the downing of the plane.
Ukrainian mass media reported that there were probably S-300 missiles on board.
There have been no official statements of the Ukrainian authorities on this matter yet.
