MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched criminal proceedings over a terrorist attack following the crash of an Ilyushin-76 airplane in the Belgorod Region.
"On January 24, 2024, a Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft crashed a few kilometers away from the village of Yablonovo in the Belgorod Region. The plane carried six crew members, military police officers and more than 60 Ukrainian prisoners of war. All of them died. Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched criminal proceedings over the incident under Article 205 of the Criminal Code (terrorist act)," the news release reads.
The plane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been sent to experts for decoding.
"To investigate the criminal case a special group of experienced investigators and experts has been formed. The scene was examined and fragments of human bodies and flight recorders were found. The recorders have been sent for decoding," the IC said.
It emphasized that the examination of the crash site produced evidence that the plane was attacked by an anti-aircraft missile from Ukraine.
"'The first results of investigative actions, including preliminary evidence gathered at the scene of the crash, enable us to conclude that the aircraft was attacked by an anti-aircraft missile from the territory of Ukraine," the press service said, adding that a package of investigative measures were being taken to identify persons in Ukraine’s armed forces involved in this terrorist act.
On January 24, the Ukrainian military shot down a Russian Ilyushin-76 military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange over the territory of Belgorod Region. There were 74 people on board, including 65 Ukrainian POWs. 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 blame the attack on Moscow.
As the Russian Defense Ministry stressed, the Ukrainian military attacked the plane from Liptsy in the Kharkov Region using an anti-aircraft missile system. Russian radars recorded the launch of two Ukrainian missiles that downed the Il-76. Earlier, emergency response services told TASS that fragments of a guided missile from an anti-aircraft missile system were found in the area of the crash.