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Military operation in Ukraine

French military believes Russian military transport plane downed by Patriot system — AP

The Western official said it’s almost certain that the missile was fired from Ukrainian territory

NEW YORK, February 3. /TASS/. The French military has concluded that a US-made Patriot air defense system was used to shoot down a Russian military transport plane recently as it was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war, The Associated Press (AP) reported, citing a source.

The system used by Ukraine managed to stay undetected and then turned on its radar "just long enough" to hit the Il-76 plane, according to the report.

Another Western official told AP that the plane went down due to "a missile strike rather than any kind of mechanical failure." The official also said it’s almost certain that the missile was fired from Ukrainian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that the Il-76 was shot down by the US-made Patriot system. He also said Moscow insisted on an international investigation into the crash.

The plane went down over the Belgorod Region on January 24. It had 74 people onboard, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners heading for an exchange. There were no survivors. The Russian Defense Ministry described the incident as a terrorist act, stating that Kiev knew about the transportation of Ukrainian citizens.

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