Lesya Leshchenko18:07, 01/24/24

The Ukrainian side was not informed of the need to ensure the security of airspace in the area of ​​​​the city of Belgorod for a certain period of time, as has been done repeatedly in the past.

There is no reliable information yet about who was on board the downed Russian Il-76 aircraft . This was stated by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

“Today an exchange of prisoners was supposed to take place, but it did not take place. According to the Russian side, this happened as a result of the downing of the Russian Il-76 aircraft, which was allegedly transporting our prisoners. Now we do not have reliable and comprehensive information about who exactly was on board aircraft and in what quantity,” the message says.

The Main Intelligence Directorate emphasized that, for its part, Ukraine fulfilled all agreements to prepare the exchange; the Russian captured military personnel were delivered on time to the agreed point for the exchange, where they were safe. 

“The safety of our defenders, according to the agreements, was to be ensured by the Russian side. At the same time, the Ukrainian side was not informed of the need to ensure the security of airspace in the area of ​​​​the city of Belgorod for a certain period of time, as has been done repeatedly in the past,” – intelligence officials said.

It is also noted that Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, routes and forms of delivery of prisoners.

“It is known that the delivery of prisoners occurs both by air, rail and road transport. This may indicate deliberate actions by Russia aimed at creating a threat to the life and safety of prisoners. Landing of a transport aircraft in a 30-kilometer combat zone cannot be safe and in any case, must be discussed by both parties, because otherwise it jeopardizes the entire exchange process,” the GUR noted.

Based on this, as emphasized in intelligence, we can talk about planned and deliberate actions of the Russian Federation with the aim of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and weakening international support for our state.

Il-76 accident in the Belgorod region – details

In Russia, in the Belgorod region, a military transport plane Il-76 crashed. According to Russian resources, 74 people on board the plane probably died. The Russian Ministry of Defense almost immediately announced that there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the crashed plane.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has stated that it cannot currently confirm that the crash of a Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft near Belgorod was caused by an attack by the Defense Forces.

In the evening, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a statement and noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to destroy military transport aircraft of the Russian Federation delivering missiles to the Belgorod airfield for shelling Kharkov and the Kharkov region. 

“To reduce the missile threat, the armed forces of Ukraine not only control the airspace, but also monitor in detail the missile launch points and the logistics of their deliveries, especially with the use of military transport aircraft,” the General Staff noted.

In this regard, it is said that the recorded intensity of shelling of the Kharkov region by the Russian occupiers is directly related to the increase in the number of military transport aircraft that have recently been heading to the Belgorod airfield.

(C)UNIAN 2024