The shooting down of the Russian military transport plane this Wednesday continues to make headlines in Russia. The plane, model Ilyushin Il-76, in which 74 people were traveling, flew near the border with Ukraine, more precisely in the airspace of the Russian region Belgorod when it crashed after hitting him, at least a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile. The Kremlin confirmed that this plane was transported 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war shortly before the exchange, while Ukrainian sources claimed the plane had crashed carried S-300 missiles, ready to be used against their people. Both countries have promised to launch investigations to resolve the incident and the first steps appear to have been taken after the two flight recorders were recovered from the plane yesterday. “According to preliminary data The condition of both black boxes allows them to be decrypted. “They will be transported on a special flight to a Defense Ministry laboratory where their contents will be analyzed,” an emergency spokesman told the TASS news agency yesterday. Geolocated images published by some Russian media show this Il-76 crashes in the Jablonovo area, belongs to the Belgorod region and is located about 50 km northeast of the capital of the same name. The same official media reported this yesterday Fragments of what may have been a rocket were found at the site where a Russian military plane crashed, according to the TASS news agency. Meanwhile, from Ukraine they reiterate that they have not received any written or verbal request from Moscow to secure the airspace around the Belgorod region where the plane crashed, according to the spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence. Andriy Yusov, to Radio Svoboda. “Unfortunately, we can assume several scenarios, including provocations, as well as the use of Ukrainian prisoners as human shields for the transport of ammunition and weapons for the S-300 systems,” Yusov said. The spokesman assured that Russian air defense systems were active in the Belgorod region on Wednesday, the same day the Russian plane crashed. “On that day, both sides used UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles): Ukraine – reconnaissance drones, Russia – kamikaze drones. “Russian reports confirm that the Russian anti-aircraft system affected the Ukrainian drone.” The Kremlin spokesman said: Dmitry Peskov met with the press yesterday and stated that “the fact that the Ukrainians killed their prisoners, their citizens who were supposed to return home practically within 24 hours, is of course a completely outrageous act.”
Initial rumors after Wednesday's accident suggested a possible change in Russia's prisoner exchange policy. After the Kremlin's initial “warming up” phase, the situation appears to have returned to normal, at least that's what the chairman of the Defense Committee of the Duma (Russian Chamber of Deputies), Andrei Kartapolov, said on Thursday afternoon. The person responsible told the Russian news agency Interfax that despite everything, his country “cannot abandon” its men and that he would “even talk to the devil” to get his captured soldiers back. “We will speak (with the Ukrainian side) based on reality, events and with awareness of the type of people we are dealing with.” Kartapolov reported that in 192 people took part in the frustrated exchange on Wednesday. The last exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine took place on January 3, when the Kiev government handed them over to the Russian army 248 militaryand received 230 Ukrainian soldiers in return.
The UN Security Council met yesterday at Moscow's request as soon as news of the disaster became known. The Chairman of the State Duma of Russia, Vyacheslav Volodindenounced the origin of this “American and German missiles” that they were delivered to Ukraine to attack “defenseless people”. At Volodin's request, the Russian parliament wrote an official message of complaint to the parliaments of the USA and Germany after the incidents.
The Belgorod region has become one of the focal points of this conflict, the target of numerous attacks by the Ukrainian army. Last December, a Kiev-ordered rocket attack in the region killed 25 people. This, together with several drone strikes in recent days on Russian territory, has increased the feeling of insecurity among the population, who are gradually becoming aware that the war is also being waged within their borders.