MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Some fragments, presumably belonging to an anti-aircraft guided missile that hit the Ilyushin-76 plane that went down yesterday, have been found at the crash site in the Belgorod Region, emergency services told TASS.
"A vast area is being combed for any fragments of the airplane and metal structures. On the ground, elements confirming the external impact on the airplane have been found. They will be sent for examination," the source said.
Military officials, investigators and forensic specialists are looking for metal objects, which are being carefully collected and analyzed.
On January 24, the Ukrainian military shot down a Russian Ilyushin-76 military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange over the Belgorod Region. There were 74 people on board, including 65 Ukrainian military personnel. No one survived. The Russian Defense Ministry called what happened a terrorist act and stressed that Kiev had prior knowledge of the transportation of POWs for the exchange, which was to take place at the Kolotilovka border checkpoint, and attacked the plane in order to eventually accuse Moscow of the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry pointed out that the Ukrainian Armed Forces hit the aircraft from the Liptsy settlement in the Kharkov region using an anti-aircraft missile system, while the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded the launch of two Ukrainian missiles, which were used to shoot down the plane.