Kyiv: Russia refuses to provide Ukraine with the list of passengers aboard the crashed Il-76, suggests relying on media sources instead
Dmytro Usov, Secretary of the Ukrainian Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, has confirmed that an exchange of captured Ukrainian armed forces personnel for Russians was indeed scheduled for the day the Il-76 aircraft was downed on January 24. He reported that, in response to Ukraine's repeated inquiries about who was on board, the Russian side referred to a list published "on Russian propaganda resources."
The list in question may be the one published by the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan. Usov confirmed that 65 individuals from this list were supposed to be returned to Ukraine on January 24. However, it is unknown if they were on board the downed Il-76.
The head of the Ukrainian Forces main Intelligence Direcorate, Kyrylo Budanov, has highlighted that the Russian propaganda's version of the events, which suggests that the designated Il-76M was transporting 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange, still raises many questions. Serhiy Andrushchenko, First Deputy Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), further emphasized that Russia is trying to conceal the real causes of the air disaster from the international community. "Russia immediately declared that it would not allow international experts to investigate the Il-76M crash. Nonetheless, Ukraine is using all means to uncover the true causes of the incident and to ascertain who or what was actually being transported on that plane," said the SBU representative.
Earlier, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Andriy Yosov, reported that the Il-76 was supposed to carry Russian high-ranking officials, but at the last moment, the FSB "essentially ordered them not to board this aircraft and to use other modes of transportation."
He added that Russian rescuers were not allowed to inspect the crash site, and video footage from the site showed no human remains. Additionally, only five bodies were delivered to the morgue in Belgorod yesterday: "This figure corresponds to the number of crew members."
The military transport aircraft Il-76 crashed on January 24, 50 kilometers northeast of Belgorod. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that it was carrying 65 captured Ukrainian servicemen who were prepared for exchange, six crew members, and three escorts.
Russian State Duma Deputy Andrey Kartapolov stated that the Ukrainian side had been duly informed in advance of the Il-76 flight with prisoners, yet Ukraine still fired three missiles from either the American Patriot missile system or the German IRIS-T at the plane.