Danilov says there were no Ukrainian prisoners on the Russian IL-76

National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov said that there were no Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the Il-76 military transport plane that crashed on January 24 in the Belgorod region. Ukraine does not have enough information whether the prisoners who were supposed to be exchanged that day are alive.

He said this in an interview with Babel. The representative of the National Security and Defense Council also urged not to be categorical and not to claim that the IL-76 was shot down.

"Indeed, an airplane crashed in Russia. But I can tell you for sure that there were no Ukrainian prisoners on board," the politician assured.

He clarified that he was saying this based on the experience that Ukraine gained after the UIA plane crash in Tehran on January 8, 2022, as well as what happened next.

"If this had really happened, the amount of biological material - what is called, let's say, the dead (the Russians claimed that there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board - Ed.) would spread all over the field, covered with blood," Danilov explained.

He is convinced that if this were the case, the Russians would have taken advantage of the situation and filmed it to use it for a propaganda TV picture. The NSDC Secretary emphasized that this was not the case, and in the modern world, nothing can be hidden.

"They had this whole story prepared. So we just have to wait. If this was happening, then, believe me, Lavrov would be screaming at the UN and they would show it all. They have nothing to show because if it really happened, there would be a completely different picture," Danilov said.

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 crash of the Russian Il-76 that are difficult to explain. He suggested that it was a planned information operation by the Kremlin, which could be aimed at discrediting Ukraine in the eyes of its allies.

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