January 23, 2023 – Translated from ruskie via Google and OFP

According to media reports, the Il-76 that crashed in the Belgorod region could have been carrying weapons. In addition, journalists identified inconsistencies in the list of Ukrainian prisoners allegedly on the plane published by Margarita Simonyan.

The Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft that crashed in the Belgorod region was flying away from the border with Ukraine, and not towards it. This was reported on Wednesday, January 24, by the publications “Mediazona” and “Important Stories”, as well as the Ukrainian OSINT analyst “Skrinka Pandori” (“Pandora’s Box”). Journalists analyzed the footage of the plane crash and came to the conclusion that the video was filmed from the center of the village of Yablonovo in a direction to the north. 

According to Skrinka Pandori, the Il-76 had tail number RA-78830 and was flying through Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea and Iran before the crash. Near Syria, the plane disappeared from radar, after which it reappeared in Belgorod, the Telegram channel notes. “Everything indicates that it brought weapons from the East. So far, there are no signs that there could be prisoners there,” notes the Ukrainian analyst. 

In turn, the publication “Verstka” found out that the Il-76, numbered RA-78830, according to Flightradar data, last sent a signal near Cyprus at 10.10 Moscow time, while the crash occurred at 11.15 Moscow time. The aircraft simply would not have had time to cover the distance from Cyprus to the Belgorod region in just over an hour. In addition, apparently, RA-78830 was preparing to land in Syria – in the last 15 minutes of signal transmission, it dropped its altitude from 32 thousand feet to 20.3 thousand – indicates “Layout”.

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: All measures are being taken to protect Ukraine

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine issued the first statement after the Il-76 crash. The Ukrainian army “will continue to destroy delivery vehicles and airspace control to destroy the terrorist threat, including in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction,” notes the document published on the social network Facebook.

The statement also emphasizes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are taking all measures to protect the country, and the Russians are continuing their strategy of terror amid their inability to achieve any results on the battlefield. Over the last week alone, the Russian Armed Forces launched 19 missile attacks on the Kharkov region, while “the intensity of the attacks is directly related to the increase in the number of military transport aircraft that have recently been sent to the Belgorod airfield,” it is further noted. At the same time, the statement of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine does not say anything about the crash of the Il-76 plane.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=727618612884553&set=a.229159252730494

List of Simonyan and data on the Russian negotiating team

Earlier, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian propaganda resource Russia Today, published on her Telegram channel a list of names and dates of birth of 65 people who, according to her, were Ukrainian prisoners of war flying on the crashed plane. After this publication, Ukrainian journalists found out that some of the Ukrainians on Simonyan’s list had already been exchanged earlier. “The names of 17 people from this list coincide with the names from the list of prisoners who were already exchanged on January 3,” writes the  UNIAN agency.

The Briefing Telegram channel, citing its own anonymous source, reports that a Russian working negotiation group was flying on the Il-76. “Among the dead were Abramovich’s assistant and negotiators from Ramzan Kadyrov, as well as officers of the Ministry of Defense. This is a disaster. People who ensured the exchange of prisoners of war over the past year were killed,” says the publication’s interlocutor.

Plane crash in Belgorod region

An Il-76 military transport plane crashed on January 24 in the Korochansky district of the Belgorod region. According to the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the plane “fell in a field near a populated area” and all people on board were killed. The Telegram channels “Important Stories” and “ChTD”, with reference to the Russian Ministry of Defense, reported that on board the Il-76 there were 65 captured Ukrainian military personnel who were transported for exchange, as well as 6 crew members and 3 accompanying persons.

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine issued an emergency statement in which it confirmed that an exchange of prisoners was to take place on January 24. Speaking about the crash of the Il-76, the Main Intelligence Directorate emphasized: “Now Ukraine does not have reliable and comprehensive information about who exactly was on board the plane and in what quantity. For its part, Ukraine has fulfilled all agreements for the proper preparation of the exchange. Russian captured military personnel were on time “They were delivered to the agreed place for exchange, where they were safe. The safety of our defenders, according to the agreements, was to be ensured by the Russian side.”

“The landing of a transport aircraft in a 30-kilometer combat zone cannot be safe and in any case should be discussed by both parties, because otherwise it jeopardizes the entire exchange process. Based on this, we can talk about planned and deliberate actions of the Russian Federation with the goal of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and weakening international support for our state,” the document says.

The Russian Ministry of Defense accused Kyiv of a “terrorist attack”

The Russian Ministry of Defense called the crash a “terrorist attack” and accused Kyiv of committing it. The agency claims that the plane was shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces using an anti-aircraft missile system in the area of ​​Liptsy, Kharkov region. The report says that the radar equipment of the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded “the launch of two Ukrainian missiles.” State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin instructed to prepare an appeal to the US Congress and the German Bundestag in connection with the Il-76 crash.

Ukrainian Telegram channels initially reported that the plane crash was “the work of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” but soon deleted this information. The Ukrayinska Pravda publication, citing sources in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, wrote that the plane was transporting missiles for the S-300 air defense system. “He brought death to the residents of the Kharkov region – missiles for the S-300,” said one of the publication’s interlocutors. There was no confirmation of this information by officials.

https://www.dw.com/ru/analitiki-il76-letel-ot-granicy-s-ukrainoj-a-ne-k-nej/a-68075470