Occurrence | |
---|---|
Date | 24 January 2024 |
Summary | Reportedly shot down |
Site | Near Yablonovo, [1] Korochansky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia 50°53′37″N37°20′29″E / 50.89361°N 37.34139°E |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Ilyushin Il-76M |
Operator | Russian Air Force |
Registration | RF-86868 [2] |
Flight origin | Chkalovsky Air Base, Moscow Oblast, Russia |
Destination | Belgorod International Airport, Belgorod Oblast, Russia North-eastern direction of flight (eyewitness testimony) |
Occupants | 74 |
Passengers | 68 |
Crew | 6 |
Fatalities | 74 |
Survivors | 0 |
On 24 January 2024, at around 11:15 MSK, [3] a Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane crashed near the Ukrainian border in Russia's Korochansky district in Belgorod Oblast, killing everyone on board. Russia stated that the plane was shot down by Ukraine while it was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) captured during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as six crew members and three guards, and that the prisoners of war were to be exchanged in a swap. [1] [4] [5] [6] [7] The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not directly take responsibility for shooting down the airplane, but stated that it was a legitimate military target and that it was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles for bombing Kharkiv Oblast. [7] [8]
Some French and US officials claim that the downing of the aircraft was caused by a Patriot missile fired by the Ukrainian army, [9] [10] but there has been no independent verification of the claims of either of the two countries. [7] [8]
Ukraine's Coordination HQ on the Treatment of POWs estimates that more than 8,000 Ukrainian civilians and military personnel are being held prisoner by Russia since the start of its invasion in 2022, with tens of thousands still unaccounted for. Prior to the crash, on 3 January, Ukraine returned 248 POWs to Russia in exchange for 230 of its citizens in the largest such prisoner exchange of the conflict, following mediation by the United Arab Emirates. [11]
Belgorod Oblast, where the crash happened, has been the scene of spillovers and cross-border fighting with Ukraine, [12] with an airstrike in Belgorod city on 30 December 2023 killing 25 people and injuring more than 100 others. [11]
The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose aircraft, with a military version for carrying troops, equipment and ammunition. Russian officials said that 65 of the occupants were Ukrainian prisoners of war, and that six Russian crew members and three guards were also on board. [13] [14] The Russian Ministry of Defence said the crash occurred "during a routine flight". The 65 Ukrainian soldiers were supposedly being transported to Belgorod Oblast for a prisoner exchange [15] at the Kolotilovka border crossing [12] 100 kilometers west of Belgorod city. The Russian military said the flight originated from Chkalovsky Air Base near Moscow. [16]
The Il-76 and the crew belonged to the 117th Military Transport Aviation Regiment (military base No. 45097), the regiment's tasks include servicing military vehicles transporting special cargo for material support of the Russian army. The regiment's aircraft are stationed at Orenburg airfield. [17] [18]
Russian news media reported a crew of six people, [19] consisting of captain Stanislav Alekseevich Bezzubkin (35), [20] [21] co-pilot Vladislav Vadimovich Chmirev (24), [22] navigator Alexey Anatolyevich Vysokin (31), flight engineer Andrey Leonidovich Piluev (38), [23] technician Sergey Nikolaevich Zhitenev (34), and radio operator Igor Vyacheslavovich Sablinsky (54).
External videos | |
---|---|
Video of the plane crash (via BBC News Russian , shooting location, the video camera is pointing north-northwest) |
The crash occurred in a field about 5–6 km (3.1–3.7 mi) from Yablonovo, Belgorod Oblast, according to the village's rector. According to Viktor Bondarev, former Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, an external impact was reported by the crew before the crash. [24] The Moscow Times , citing analysis of videos of the crash on social media, reported that the military plane was flying away from the border with Ukraine when it crashed. [25]
At 10:35 MSK the governor of Belgorod Oblast, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported that the air defense system of the Belgorod Oblast shot down an aviation-type UAV with a fixed-wing over the village of Blizhne , 75 km (47 mi) southwest of Yablonovo. [26] At 11:12 MSK, he announced that a "missile alert" had been activated in the region and urged residents to take shelter. [27] [12] At 11:43 MSK he reported that the signal had been cancelled. [28] The first media reports about the crash appeared at 11:48. [29] [30]
Russia's foreign ministry accused Ukraine of downing the aircraft, calling it a "barbaric" act [1] and stating that the aircraft was shot down by one of three missiles – Patriot or IRIS – launched at it by Ukraine. [31] Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called the incident a "criminal" act by Ukraine and called for an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council to demand an explanation from Ukraine; [32] a meeting was set for the afternoon of 25 January, New York time, [33] during which Russian and Ukrainian representatives reiterated their countries' positions and blamed each other for the incident. [34]
The Russian Defence Ministry said that the aircraft was shot down by two missiles that were fired from the Lyptsi area, 100 km (62 mi) across the border in Kharkiv Oblast, citing its radar systems. [16] [12] Andrei Kartapolov, the chairman of the defence committee of the State Duma of Russia, said that a second plane on its way to transport 80 Ukrainian POWs turned back following the incident, [25] adding that "there can now be no talk of any other [prisoner] exchanges". [16] Kartapolov later said that Russia had warned Ukraine about the aircraft’s approach at least 15 minutes before the incident, which Ukrainian officials denied. [35] The chair of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said that the chamber would send a formal address to the US Congress and the German Bundestag over the incident to demand that they "recognize their responsibility". [25]
Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the incident "a monstrous act" by the "Kyiv regime". [11] President Vladimir Putin said that it was "obvious" that Ukraine had downed the aircraft, and said that Kyiv had known beforehand of the arrangements for the transport of the prisoners aboard the plane. [36] He also pledged to publicize the results of the Russian investigation "so that people in Ukraine know what really happened." [37] Putin later said that the aircraft was shot down by a Patriot missile system. [38] On 25 January, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a terrorism investigation into the incident [39] and released footage of the crash site, showing traces of blood and parts of human remains, [40] including a tattoo depicting a tryzub. [41] It later released a blurry video purportedly showing prisoners being transported to the aircraft. [42]
On 30 January, TASS, citing a security agency source, reported that the aircraft was brought down by an "external impact" based on analysis of its black boxes. [43]
Ukrainska Pravda had reported that sources in the Ukrainian general staff said the aircraft was carrying S-300 missiles, and that Ukraine had shot down the aircraft. It later amended the report to say this did not indicate Ukrainian involvement. [44] [45] The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which is the Ukrainian agency in charge of POWs, accused Russia of "actively carrying out special information operations against Ukraine, which are aimed at destabilising Ukrainian society". [16] The independent Russian media outlet iStories , citing Ukrainian OSINT investigations, reported that the aircraft had flown over Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea and Iran before disappearing from radars and reappearing over Belgorod Oblast. [25]
According to a spokesperson for Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine was scheduled on the day of the crash, yet it did not happen. [46] It also said that on the day of the incident, its counterparts in Russia had not informed them of the need to ensure the safety of the area's airspace, contrary to previous practices, and had already transported the Russian POWs that were supposed to be exchanged to the designated venue. The agency said that the incident may have been a "deliberate" move by Russia to "create a threat to the life and safety of the prisoners." [47]
On 25 January, the HUR said that it had received intelligence that several senior Russian military and political officials were supposed to be on board the aircraft but were told by the Federal Security Service (FSB) to take other forms of transportation instead. It also said that the FSB and the Russian military prevented emergency workers from inspecting the crash site, while at least five bodies were recovered and sent to a morgue in Belgorod, and no other human remains were found at the scene, citing video taken of the area. [48] The HUR also hypothesized that the aircraft might have been shot down by friendly fire while Russian air defenses tried to intercept a drone. Reacting to Russian assertion of POWs on board, it also said that Russia was possibly using Ukrainian POWs as human shields to transport weapons and ammunition. [49]
In his address that evening, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it was "obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society", but did not confirm the presence of POWs aboard the aircraft, saying that it was still being clarified by the HUR. Zelenskyy also said that the Security Service of Ukraine was also investigating the crash, and ordered his foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba to inform international partners about the data available to Ukraine during the course of the investigation. He also insisted on an international investigation to determine what had happened. [50] Likewise, Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that he would send letters to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross urging them to call for an investigation. [51]
The BBC reported on the evening of 24 January, that after eight hours of no official information being given, two official statements were made by the Ukrainian General Staff and the HUR that "amount to acknowledgement that Ukraine may have shot the plane down". [52] Western military analysts also told BBC News Russian that video taken of the crash indicated that the aircraft was shot down. [53]
France Info reported that according to a French military source, the aircraft was hit by a US-made Patriot air defence battery operated by the Ukrainian army. [9]
The New York Times reported on 8 February that, according to anonymous US officials, the Il-76 was shot down by an American Patriot missile, and that claims that there were Ukrainian POWs on board were "probable". [10]
The first victims to be recovered were found around 1.5-2 kilometers from the crash site. [24] Russia Today chief editor Margarita Simonyan published a list of 65 names she said were those of Ukrainian POWs on board the flight. [25] Upon analyzing the list, Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne confirmed that the names on the list were Ukrainian POWs being held in Russia but said it could not verify whether they were on board the aircraft or part of any prisoner exchange. [54]
On 25 January, Lubinets said that based on photographs and footage taken on the crash site, there was no indication of "any signs that there were such a large number of people on the plane." [55] He also confirmed that some of the prisoners identified in Simonyan's list had already been released in prior POW exchanges. [56] Following a meeting between Ukrainian security officials and relatives of the POWs mentioned in Simonyan's list, the HUR said that the latter had not been able to identify any prisoners from the footage of the crash site released by Russian sources. [57] Ukrainian officials said they had only received a list of POWs who were supposedly on board the plane from Russia on 26 January [58] and requested that the bodies of those who died be repatriated, but had not received a response from Russia. [59] On 9 February, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov reiterated the non-existence of Ukrainian POWs on board the aircraft in an interview with Babel, citing the absence of large quantities of "biological material" at the crash site. [60]
One of the names on Simonyan's list of POWs killed in the crash was Maxim Anatolievich Konovalenko, a prisoner known to have already been repatriated to Ukraine during an exchange on 3 January 2024. [61] [62] [63]
The governor of Belgorod Oblast, Vyacheslav Gladkov, posted on Telegram that "an investigation team and emergency services" had been deployed to the crash site, adding that he had "travelled to the district." [64] He also said there were no survivors. [13] A team of investigators was also deployed by the Russian Aerospace Forces. [65] The aircraft's flight recorders were recovered from the crash site on 25 January, [66] with TASS saying that they would be sent to a laboratory of the Russian defense ministry for analysis. [67]
A nationwide air alert was briefly declared in Ukraine following the crash (11:41 – 13:58 EET) [16] while President Zelenskyy cancelled a scheduled trip on 25 January. [11] Following the crash, the Ukrainian military said that it would continue to attack Russian aircraft in Belgorod Oblast. [68]
On 26 January, a pre-planned exchange of war dead proceeded as scheduled between Russia and Ukraine, with 55 bodies of Russian fatalities being repatriated in return for 77 Ukrainian dead. [69]
United Nations undersecretary-general Rosemary DiCarlo urged "all concerned to refrain from actions, rhetoric or allegations that could further fuel the already dangerous conflict." [70] A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine called on Russia to repatriate the remains of POWs who may have died in the crash. [58]
On 28 January, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War was targeted in a cyberattack by Russian hackers that affected its information resources. The agency linked the cyberattack to the plane crash. [71]
An exchange of POWs between the warring countries was held on 31 January, in which 195 Russians and 207 Ukrainians were returned to their home countries. The exchange was brokered by the United Arab Emirates. [72] None of the people present on the list provided by Russia were included in the swap. [73]
On 29 February, Russian presidential commissioner for human rights Tatiana Moskalkova said that Russia was willing to repatriate the remains of the POWs killed in the crash. In response, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets accused her of "speculating" on the crash, noting that Russia had not released an official passenger list or gave access to international organizations to the crash site. [74]
On 8 November, Russia repatriated the remains of 563 Ukrainian servicemen in exchange for the bodies of 37 Russians. [75] The Zaporizhzhia-based collaborationist group We Are Together with Russia claimed that among the returned remains were 62 POWs which died in the crash, a claim confirmed neither by Russian or Ukrainian authorities. [76]
On 9 December, Tatiana Moskalkova said that the remains of the POWs killed in the crash had been returned to Ukraine following an exchange but did not give further details. [77]
The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. It was developed to deliver heavy machinery to remote and poorly served areas. Military versions of the Il-76 have been widely used in Europe, Asia and Africa, including use as an aerial refueling tanker and command center.
Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 was a commercial flight shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force over the Black Sea on 4 October 2001, en route from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Novosibirsk, Russia. The aircraft, a Soviet-made Tupolev Tu-154, carried 66 passengers and 12 crew members. Most of the passengers were Israelis visiting relatives in Russia. There were no survivors. The crash site is about 190 km west-southwest of the Black Sea resort of Sochi, 140 km north of the Turkish coastal town of Fatsa and 350 km south-southeast of Feodosiya in Crimea. The crash was caused by a missile launched during joint Ukrainian-Russian military air-defence exercises at the Russian-controlled training ground of the 31st Russian Black Sea Fleet Research center on Cape Opuk near the city of Kerch in Crimea. Ukraine eventually admitted that it might have caused the crash, probably by an errant S-200 missile fired by its armed forces. Ukraine paid $15 million to surviving family members of the 78 victims.
The Beriev A-50 is a Soviet-origin airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft that is based on the Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane. Developed to replace the Tupolev Tu-126 "Moss", the A-50 first flew in 1978. Its existence was revealed to the Western Bloc in 1978 by Adolf Tolkachev. It entered service in 1985, with about 40 produced by 1992.
The Russian Air Force is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reborn Russian armed forces began to be created on 7 May 1992 following Boris Yeltsin's creation of the Ministry of Defence. However, the Russian Federation's air force can trace its lineage and traditions back to the Imperial Russian Air Service (1912–1917) and the Soviet Air Forces (1918–1991).
Luhansk International Airport was an airport in Luhansk, Ukraine. The airport was located 20 km south of the city center, 9 km to the city limit. Since 11 June 2014, the airport has been officially closed. It was mostly destroyed during the war in Donbas.
On 14 June 2014, an Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft of the 25th Transport Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down by forces of the Russia-backed separatists from Luhansk People's Republic while on approach to land at Luhansk International Airport, Ukraine, during the initial phase of the war in Donbas. The aircraft was carrying troops and equipment from an undisclosed location. All 49 people on board were killed.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-backed forces with a Buk 9M38 surface-to-air missile on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Contact with the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was lost when it was about 50 kilometres from the Ukraine–Russia border, and wreckage from the aircraft landed near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40 km from the border. The shoot-down occurred during the war in Donbas over territory controlled by Russian separatist forces.
The 25th Transport Aviation Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Air Force based at Melitopol Air Base.
Casualties in the Russo-Ukrainian War include six deaths during the 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, 14,200–14,400 military and civilian deaths during the War in Donbas, and up to 1,000,000 estimated casualties during the Russian invasion of Ukraine till mid-September 2024.
The Freedom of Russia Legion, also called the Free Russia Legion, is a Ukrainian-based paramilitary unit of Russian citizens, which opposes the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin and its invasion of Ukraine. It was formed in March 2022 and is reportedly part of Ukraine's International Legion. It consists of defectors from the Russian Armed Forces, and other Russian volunteers, some of whom had emigrated to Ukraine. It is one of several such units participating in the Russo-Ukrainian War on behalf of Ukraine.
There have been attacks in mainland Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. The main targets have been the military, the arms industry and the oil industry. Many of the attacks have been drone strikes, firebombing, and rail sabotage. The Ukrainian intelligence services have acknowledged carrying out some of these attacks. Others have been carried out by anti-war activists in Russia. There have also been cross-border shelling, missile strikes, and covert raids from Ukraine, mainly in Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk oblasts. Several times, Ukrainian-based paramilitaries launched incursions into Russia, captured border villages and battled the Russian military. These were carried out by units made up mainly of Russian emigrants. While Ukraine supported these ground incursions, it denied direct involvement.
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, aerial warfare took place as early as the dawn of 24 February 2022, with Russian infantry and armored divisions entering into Eastern Ukraine with air support. Dozens of missile attacks were reported across Ukraine. The main infantry and tank attacks were launched in four spearhead incursions, creating a northern front launched towards Kyiv, a southern front originating in Crimea, a south-eastern front launched at the cities of Luhansk and Donbas, and an eastern front. Dozens of missile strikes across Ukraine also reached as far west as Lviv. Drones have also been a critical part of the invasion, particularly in regards to combined arms warfare. Drones have additionally been employed by Russia in striking Ukrainian critical infrastructure, and have been used by Ukraine to strike military infrastructure in Russian territory.
In the early morning of June 24, 2022, an Ilyushin Il-76MD cargo aircraft of the Russian Air Force was operating a flight from Orenburg Tsentralny Airport to Belgorod International Airport with an intermediate flight to Dyagilevo air base crashed immediately after takeoff from Dyagilevo air base, near the Mikhailovsky highway area in the city of Ryazan.
Events in the year 2024 in Russia.
Events in the year 2024 in Ukraine.
This timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 1 December 2023 to 31 March 2024.
This timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 July 2024.
This timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 1 August 2024 to the present day.
10:52 GMT Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainskaya Pravda has withdrawn its claim that Ukraine shot down the Russian Ilyushin plane, which crashed this morning in Belgorod. It quoted sources in Ukraine's general staff who said the military aircraft was carrying S-300 missiles. It has now added a correction saying that the sources did not "indicate" Ukrainian involvement