MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. Members of the State Duma should commence work on recognizing Ukraine a terrorist state, Andrey Kartapolov, chairman of the Duma’s Defense Committee, opined at the lower house’s plenary meeting, when commenting on the Ilyushin-76 (IL-76) plane crash in the Belgorod Region.
"It is high time to get back to the idea of designating Ukraine as a terrorist state and its ruling regime as a terrorist cell," Kartapolov said.
This proposal was also backed by Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee.
"I, myself have said more than once that the Kiev regime must be recognized as a terrorist regime, and the whole clique of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky as 'a terrorist cell,'" Slutsky wrote on his Telegram channel.
An IL-76 military transport plane, which was carrying Ukrainian POWs for exchange, crashed in the Belgorod Region at about 11:00 a.m. Moscow time (8:00 a.m. GMT). According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 65 Ukrainian service members, three escorts and six crew members were on board. The causes of the crash are being investigated, and a commission of the Russian Aerospace Forces has flown to the crash site.