The Main Directorate of Intelligence found out that there were supposed to be senior officials of the military and political leadership on board the downed Il-76, but the Russian FSB forbade them to fly at the "last moment".
Andriy Yusov, a representative of the State Government of Ukraine, told about this in a comment to Radio Liberty and added that these details were established after the plane crash.
According to him, only five bodies were brought to the morgue in Belgorod. Russian rescuers were not allowed to inspect the scene.
At the same time, the MDI does not rule out that Russia could use Ukrainian prisoners of war as human shields for transporting ammunition and weapons.
Andriy Yusov said that from the analysis of the Russian version, the large military plane was filled to a third. And there were also other military transport planes in the air with him, including An-26 and An-72.
Meanwhile, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets says that at the moment there are no signs that there were a large number of people in the crashed Russian Il-76 plane, as claimed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Lubinets will send letters to the UN and the Red Cross.
What happened?
On the morning of January 24, an Il-76 transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that it was shot down, and on board were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, 6 crew members and 3 escorts — all of them died. The Russian authorities announced the disruption of the exchange of prisoners. The Russian Federation did not provide any evidence that there were prisoners on the plane.
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that the exchange was planned for January 24. They emphasized that Russia had warned in the past about the need for Belgorodʼs airspace security during exchanges, but this time it was silent.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine indirectly confirmed that Ukrainian troops shot down an Il-76, adding that the enemy uses such aircraft to deliver ammunition and missiles to Belgorod, which are used to fire at Kharkiv and the region. In its statement, the General Staff did not mention the alleged death of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces hinted that the statement of the Russians about the shooting down of their own prisoners of war by Ukraine is a discredit in order to reduce international support.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the military and special services to thoroughly understand the situation. Ukraine will insist on an international investigation of the event. The Security Service of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings.