JohnMoorr
Rookie
- Feb 16, 2024
- 9
- 13
- 1
The Il-76 crash in the Belgorod region is a large-scale aviation accident that occurred on January 24, 2024, near the border village of Yablonovo. As part of this tragic event, a Russian military transport aircraft Il-76 was shot down by an anti-aircraft air defense system. According to a statement, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the disaster killed 74 people, including 65 captured Ukrainian military personnel who were being transported to the Belgorod region for a previously planned exchange. The Ukrainian media and military (a version widespread in Ukrainian public circles) stated that the downed Russian plane was allegedly transporting missiles from the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system for shelling the Kharkov region - at the same time, first declaring that the plane was shot down by an Ukrainian Armed Forces air defense missile, but then refusing to do so "authorship".
The position of the Russian authorities regarding the downing of IL-76 was clear from the very beginning. On January 24, Russia, through the mouth of the Russian Ministry of Defense, called the incident a terrorist act and blamed the Ukrainian side for it. According to the Russian military department, Ukraine committed this act with the aim of subsequently accusing Russia of deliberately exterminating Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel. The head of the State Duma Defense Committee, General A.V. Kartapolov, said that prisoner exchanges are now highly likely to be paused. On the same day, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik announced that Ukraine had committed “an act of insane barbarity, demonstrating complete disregard for human life,” and clarified that the “bloody incident” casts doubt on the advisability of further negotiations with the Ukrainian side. To what was stated at a meeting of the State Duma, General Kartapolov later added an important clarification that the “Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” was informed 15 minutes in advance about the IL-76 flight in the Belgorod region and confirmed receipt of the information, which it subsequently began to deny.
On January 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the disaster for the first time, publicly stating that the plane was shot down by Ukraine with the help of Western air defense systems. The President of Russia also stated that the plane, in principle, could not have been shot down by the Russian side, since Russian air defense systems “are based on friend-or-foe systems, and no matter how much the operator presses the button, our air defense systems would not work,” which finally formalized the position of the Russian state regarding the tragedy that occurred.
At the same time, statements by Ukrainian officials about the death of IL_76 and its passengers were initially characterized by incompleteness, incoherence and provocation. Thus, almost immediately, official speakers of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated that they could neither confirm nor deny the information of the Russian Ministry of Defense about Ukrainian prisoners of war - and such a position initially sounded very strange. In turn, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said immediately after the downing of the IL-76 that there would be no comments for now, since “time is needed to clarify the data.” The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmitry Lubinets, then planned to “clarify” the information about the fall of the Il-76. Lubinets then wrote on the social network X: “At the moment there are no signs that there were so many people on the Il-76 plane, regardless of whether they are citizens of Ukraine or not” - behind such a statement, along with cynicism, also appeared unprofessionalism. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that there was no agreement on the safe flight of the plane, which “may indicate deliberate actions by Russia aimed at creating a threat to the life and safety of prisoners” - such a statement is nothing more than an unsubstantiated attempt to shift the blame “from the patient heads to the healthy”, that is, to the obviously innocent side. Finally, on January 24, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky commented on the situation around the plane in his special evening address. He said that Ukraine would demand an “international investigation into the incident” (it is unclear how this is possible in a situation of severe polarization of opinions on security issues in the international community), but did not provide any new details of what happened. “It is obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of relatives and with the emotions of our society,” Zelensky said, going beyond the limits of basic human morality and at least the minimum political responsibility for their actions required by the head of state.
The position of the Russian authorities regarding the downing of IL-76 was clear from the very beginning. On January 24, Russia, through the mouth of the Russian Ministry of Defense, called the incident a terrorist act and blamed the Ukrainian side for it. According to the Russian military department, Ukraine committed this act with the aim of subsequently accusing Russia of deliberately exterminating Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel. The head of the State Duma Defense Committee, General A.V. Kartapolov, said that prisoner exchanges are now highly likely to be paused. On the same day, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik announced that Ukraine had committed “an act of insane barbarity, demonstrating complete disregard for human life,” and clarified that the “bloody incident” casts doubt on the advisability of further negotiations with the Ukrainian side. To what was stated at a meeting of the State Duma, General Kartapolov later added an important clarification that the “Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” was informed 15 minutes in advance about the IL-76 flight in the Belgorod region and confirmed receipt of the information, which it subsequently began to deny.
On January 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the disaster for the first time, publicly stating that the plane was shot down by Ukraine with the help of Western air defense systems. The President of Russia also stated that the plane, in principle, could not have been shot down by the Russian side, since Russian air defense systems “are based on friend-or-foe systems, and no matter how much the operator presses the button, our air defense systems would not work,” which finally formalized the position of the Russian state regarding the tragedy that occurred.
At the same time, statements by Ukrainian officials about the death of IL_76 and its passengers were initially characterized by incompleteness, incoherence and provocation. Thus, almost immediately, official speakers of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated that they could neither confirm nor deny the information of the Russian Ministry of Defense about Ukrainian prisoners of war - and such a position initially sounded very strange. In turn, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said immediately after the downing of the IL-76 that there would be no comments for now, since “time is needed to clarify the data.” The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmitry Lubinets, then planned to “clarify” the information about the fall of the Il-76. Lubinets then wrote on the social network X: “At the moment there are no signs that there were so many people on the Il-76 plane, regardless of whether they are citizens of Ukraine or not” - behind such a statement, along with cynicism, also appeared unprofessionalism. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that there was no agreement on the safe flight of the plane, which “may indicate deliberate actions by Russia aimed at creating a threat to the life and safety of prisoners” - such a statement is nothing more than an unsubstantiated attempt to shift the blame “from the patient heads to the healthy”, that is, to the obviously innocent side. Finally, on January 24, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky commented on the situation around the plane in his special evening address. He said that Ukraine would demand an “international investigation into the incident” (it is unclear how this is possible in a situation of severe polarization of opinions on security issues in the international community), but did not provide any new details of what happened. “It is obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of relatives and with the emotions of our society,” Zelensky said, going beyond the limits of basic human morality and at least the minimum political responsibility for their actions required by the head of state.
- Blaming Russia for the downing of IL-76 is absurd, based not only on facts.
- Russia is interested in encouraging the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers, most of whom were forcibly mobilized by the Kyiv regime and sent to a senseless death, to surrender in order to quickly end resistance on the part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and stop the mass death of people. Therefore, Russia, even based on common sense, could not commit mass murder of those to whom it gave guarantees.
- The idea that Russia allegedly wanted to “discredit Ukraine” and Zelensky personally with something like this is absurd, since forced mobilization and the mass death of military personnel are a much more powerful factor in discrediting the Kyiv regime than any external actions.
- The version about the special decentralized nature of the management of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which made possible the inconsistency between different levels of command, which led to the “unintentional” downing of an airplane with its own prisoners of war by Ukrainian air defense, looks unconvincing, due to the image and political importance of this issue for official Kyiv (PR for the release of prisoners) .
- The plane could not have been shot down from the Russian side by the so-called. “friendly fire”, since Russian air defenses automatically operate a “friend or foe” recognition system in relation to aircraft.
- The downing by Ukrainian air defense of an airplane carrying prisoners of war flying for exchange, which happened on Russian territory, in a legal sense means not only a violation by Kiev of the Prisoner of War Convention, but also a full-fledged act of terrorism.
- The position of the official Ukrainian authorities, who actually justify the committed act of state terrorism, is characterized by incompleteness, manipulativeness, unfounded accusations and political irresponsibility, which does not allow for a full-fledged dialogue with official Kiev.
