DIU makes new statement on IL-76 crash: were there any Ukrainian prisoners on board or not

Only Russia claims that there were allegedly Ukrainian prisoners of war on board its IL-76, which crashed near Belgorod on January 24. At the same time, the aggressor has not yet shown any willingness to hand over the bodies to Ukraine.

This was stated by a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Andrii Yusov. He provided new data on the plane crash, about which Russians have spread a lot of disinformation, in a commentary to Suspilne.

"It is Russia's statement that our prisoners were there, and so far we can analyze their words only. There is currently no readiness to hand over the bodies from the other side," the DIU representative said.

He added that at the same time, Ukraine is working on this and, if the worst is confirmed, "will do everything possible to honor our defenders on a shield."

Yusov did not rule out the possibility that the Russian Il-76 was carrying both ammunition and prisoners, whom the Russians used as human shields. He says the aggressor's reaction and the circumstances of the crash were provocative. An exchange was indeed planned that day, but the ceasefire was not declared over Belgorod, and Moscow did not inform in advance that it was going to use air traffic to transport prisoners.

"If we take into consideration that the plane was one-third loaded, according to their version, there could have been ammunition because that's what this plane was mainly used for. There could have been ammunition and people on board. It could have been used as a human shield, so this needs to be carefully investigated. The work in this direction is ongoing," the DIU representative added.

Earlier, the head of the department, Kyrylo Budanov, said that there is currently no reliable and comprehensive information about who might have actually been on board the Russian military transport aircraft IL-76.

The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters confirmed that 65 prisoners from the list published by Russian propagandists on the day of the crash were indeed to be exchanged. Criminal proceedings under Article 438 of the Criminal Code (violation of the laws and customs of war) were opened in Ukraine.

As reported, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksii Hetman, noted that there are several strange things in the story of the downing of the Russian Il-76 aircraft that are difficult to explain. He believes that against the backdrop of this event, the Kremlin has planned an information campaign to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of its allies.

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