Following the downing of a Russian Il-76 transport aircraft in the Russian Federation’s Belgorod Oblast, a number of Russian media outlets cited Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Defence. He claimed that the plane contained dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who had been taken for exchange, and Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that he was looking into the situation.
Source: BBC Russian service; Russian state-owned news agency RBK; Russian Telegram channels; Governor of Belgorod Oblast Vyacheslav Gladkov; Dmytro Lubinets, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on Telegram
Details: Russian propaganda media almost simultaneously disseminated Kartapolov’s claim that the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and was allegedly “shot down by three Patriot or IRIS-T missiles.”
The Russian official made the statement during a meeting of Russia’s State Duma, but did not specify where he obtained the information.
He also claimed that the prisoners of war were transported by planes, with the other Il-76 carrying 80 prisoners allegedly turning around after the first plane crashed in Belgorod Oblast.
Kartapolov also stated that the parties were preparing an exchange in the “192 for 192” format, but added that prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine “will probably be put on pause.”
Kartapolov Quote: “Today, there was to be a 192-for-192 exchange. The first plane carried 65 people, while the second carried the others.”
Ukrainska Pravda attempted to obtain comments from Dmytro Lubinets, his press service, and a representative of the Ombudsman’s Office, Oleksandr Kononenko, but they did not return any calls, and messages were not read.
Later, Lubinets and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War stated on Telegram that they were investigating this information.
Quote from Ukraine’s Ombudsman: “As the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, I am currently investigating the incident and analysing the information I have gathered. I urge Ukrainian media representatives and citizens to avoid jumping to conclusions and instead rely solely on official sources. I also ask that you do not spread false information. The enemy is devious. And we all know what terrible methods Russia can employ to destabilise Ukrainian society. Don’t be fooled by provocations.”
Details: He promised to provide more detailed information later.
The coordination headquarters also stated that it gathers and analyses all relevant data, along with other institutions.
“Before authorised persons or bodies issue official statements or comments, we urge the media and citizens to refrain from disseminating unverified information.
We emphasise that the enemy is actively carrying out information special operations against Ukraine, aimed at destabilising Ukrainian society,” said the Coordination Headquarters.
According to sources at Ukrainska Pravda, Ukraine was indeed preparing an exchange of prisoners of war. However, the publication’s contact provided no information about the time, location, or estimated number of prisoners of war.
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/01/24/7438661/
Russian propaganda media almost simultaneously disseminated Kartapolov’s claim that the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and was allegedly “shot down by three Patriot or IRIS-T missiles.”
That’s not suspicious is it? It almost appears that the orc media already had their story ready before the incident took place.
“Today, there was to be a 192-for-192 exchange. The first plane carried 65 people, while the second carried the others.”
“He also claimed that the prisoners of war were transported by planes, with the other Il-76 carrying 80 prisoners allegedly turning around after the first plane crashed in Belgorod Oblast.”
The last time I checked, 65 and 80 equaled 145, not 192.
Also, since when is the Putin regime so eager to exchange POWs that they transport them by plane? Ice cold train waggons or trucks would be much more likely, if at all. The Russian statements don’t pass the smell test, as usual.
Why send two planes to carry 145 POW’s, when they would fit into one plane? The moskali are lying through their teeth as usual.
Here are a couple of images of this so called plane crash. The parts are covered in rust and snow. There is no melted snow, which is unusual to say the least. Lastly, where are the bodies. Did they levitate on their own. There are no footprints in the snow either.
https://x.com/francis_scarr/status/1750096616344760829?s=20
Parts of a derelict il-76, blown up with explosives to look like a crash site? That would make sense if it’s a deliberate false flag stunt. Russia wouldn’t want to sacrifice a working plane for that, and qualified flight crews don’t grow on trees, neither. Let’s see what forensic detectives, like the guys at Bellingcat, find out from the photos.
There are videos showing a plane crashing, but there is no evidence when the plane crashed, or if it is the plane that russia claim to be the one carrying POW’s.
Good point, foccusser. Wouldn’t be the first time RuSSian propaganda used older footage of a different incident as “evidence” for a totally made up issue.
RT showed the list of the dead prisoners with names! Small problem, they were already exchanged on 3th of January alive!
This from a friend on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1h7nsiF3Hs2skxuV/?
Here is the translation. The moskali up to their tricks again.
What we know about the downed IL-76:
A Russian Air Force IL-76 military transport plane, flight number RA-78830, crashed today in Belgorod.
Flight number RA-78830 took off from Iran today, passed through Saudi Arabia, Egypt, flew to Syria and disappeared from public radar there, then appeared in Belgorod, where it crashed.
The plane was moving in the opposite direction of Ukraine, i.e. the version that it was bringing Ukrainian prisoners is excluded, at most it was taking it from Belgorod (if indeed there were prisoners inside)
The military intelligence of Ukraine confirms that the exchange of prisoners was really supposed to take place today, which was canceled by Russia and the reasons for which are unknown to Ukraine.
Ukraine is also investigating whether there were Ukrainian prisoners on board,
In the first minutes after the crash of the plane, the Russian military and political elite, including the Russian parliament, began to spread systematic propaganda that there were Ukrainian prisoners on board, that Ukraine knew about it and still shot down the plane, which indicates that at least there was some kind of plan before the plane was shot down. They started its organized implementation.
Moreover, the Russian state media published a list of 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were on the plane and died, but as it turned out, 18 prisoners from the list had already been exchanged in the early days, so the Russian government media and propagandists are lying.
In the best case scenario, there were no Ukrainian prisoners on board, the Ukrainian HST system shot down a Russian plane flying near the border, and in the worst case scenario, the Russians deliberately flew a plane loaded with prisoners near the border, on which, as they say, there were only 3 guards (usually prisoners). Dozens of policemen and security forces follow), they prepared in advance for an information war against Ukraine and either shot down the plane themselves or the Ukrainians destroyed it due to detecting an enemy plane on their radars.
The administration of the President of Ukraine states that active work is underway to find out the details and there will definitely be a special announcement.