The Russian Ministry of Defense called the crash of the Russian Il-76 military aircraft in the Belgorod region a “terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime,” and also provided details of what happened.
The press service of the department reported that the attack on the aircraft was carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the area of Liptsy, Kharkov region, using an anti-aircraft missile system.
They also said that the radar equipment of the Russian Aerospace Forces detected the launch of two Ukrainian missiles.
The Russian Ministry of Defense indicated that the Ukrainian authorities knew about the transportation of Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange by military transport aircraft. It is clarified that the plane was operating a flight on the route Chkalovsky-Belgorod airfield.
In addition, the Russian military department revealed the true motives for the actions of the Kyiv regime. Ukraine shot down a Russian plane to “accuse Russia of destroying the Ukrainian military,” the Ministry of Defense concluded.
Prior to this, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on board the crashed Il-76 there were 65 captured military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who were being taken for exchange according to the formula “192 for 192.”
Let us remind you that prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine stopped in the second half of 2023. According to the data of the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin as of October 2023, a total of about 500 Russian military personnel are in Ukrainian captivity. The number of Ukrainian prisoners of war is estimated at 20–25 thousand.
Source: Rosbalt
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