The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the activity of military transport aviation in the Belgorod region of Russia recently is directly related to the intensity of shelling in Kharkiv and the region.
This statement was made public by the General Staff against the background of information about the downing of a Russian Il-76, which was allegedly transporting ammunition for the S-300 complex. That is, the General Staff indirectly confirmed that the downing of the plane was the work of the Armed Forces. At the same time, the GS does not mention the prisoners of war, information about which was thrown away by the Russian side immediately after the downing — allegedly there were Ukrainian prisoners on board who were supposed to be exchanged.
"The recorded intensity of shelling is directly related to the increase in the number of military transport planes that have recently been heading to the Belgorod airfield. Taking this into account, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to take measures to destroy means of delivery, control the airspace to destroy the terrorist threat, including in the Belgorod-Kharkiv direction," the General Staff noted.
Only in the last week, Russia launched 19 missile strikes on Kharkiv region, using 26 S-300 anti-aircraft missiles and three Iskander-M missiles. As a result, 16 people died, 78 were injured.
What is known about the downing of Il-76
According to preliminary data, the Il-76 plane crashed in the Korochan district of the Belgorod region. Russian Telegram channels wrote that there were 63 people on board. "Ukrainian Pravda" with reference to its sources reported that the plane was transporting missiles to the S-300 complexes with which the Russians are shelling the Kharkiv region.
The State Duma of the Russian Federation said that the exchange of prisoners was being prepared today, and with the downing of the plane, Ukraine disrupted the exchange according to the "192 for 192" scheme. The second plane with the second group of prisoners was allegedly diverted. Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine, confirmed that the exchange of prisoners was supposed to take place today. The application of the Russians is being checked both at the GUR and at the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
The publications "Vazhnye istorii" and "Mediazon" write that the IL-76 flew from Belgorod deep into Russia. The video of his fall was shot in the center of the village of Yablonov, north of the city. The media also published a photo showing the traces of an explosion in the sky, typical of air defense operations. There are several photos from the likely place of the plane crash — there are no traces of the death of a large number of people on them.
Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan published a list of the names of, as she claims, the dead Ukrainian prisoners. It has 65 surnames. The OSINT community has questioned the veracity of the list. Some of the names on the list are previously exchanged Ukrainians.