Moscow accused Kia of shooting down a Russian military plane carrying dozens of Ukrainian prisoners. Ukraine opened an investigation, but should not have released the findings, leaving open the question of who was killed and why.
The crash of an IL-76 transport plane in Russia’s Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine, is a delicate moment for Kiev to lobby for developing a series of re-reports, depleted weapons stocks.
Russian officials called it a “terrorist” act and called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Ukrainian officials neither accepted nor denied Shooting down the plane, he said they could not confirm that Ukrainian prisoners were on board.
American officials later evaluated Ukrainian forces, thinking it was carrying Russian missiles and munitions, used a US-made Patriot missile to shoot it down.
“We have a lot of questions about the situation,” Sofiya Sobolyeva, who believes her father was on the plane, said at the last meeting.
Here’s what we know about the crash a year on, with families of the inmates still waiting for answers.
Conflicting accounts
Ministry of Defense of Russia He said on January 24, 2024He was shot when he was on his way to Belgorod for a prisoner exchange in one of the native transports. The plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners and said no one survived the crash.
First, Ukraine received the right to target Russian military transport aircraft in the border region, which was the staging ground for the 2022 invasion and was then used to disperse attacks.
At the time of the crash, deadly Russian missile strikes just along its border in Ukraine underscored Kiev’s need to deter such attacks.
Soon after, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency hinted at the possibility of a tragic mistake, not knowing that Ukraine had brought down the plane but offering no explanation for how.
A Ukrainian official said it was an IL-76, which is often used to transport cargo used before Giving ammunition and rockets, suggesting that this is a legitimate target.
The agency acknowledged that a prisoner exchange was planned for January 24, but said that Russia did not warn Ukraine, and that the prisoners were flown to Belgorod airport, as in previous exchanges. Russian officials dispute Account, Ukrainian military news reported.
The allegations aired described the persistent lack of clarity that had become a defining feature of the war. Both sides have pushed their preferred narratives in the three-year battle and have been reluctant to publicize or admit failures.
It calls for an investigation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the country’s intelligence agency to be named for an international investigation into the incident and the accident. He accused Russia of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, their loved ones and the emotions of our society.”
Ukraine’s internal intelligence agency opened an investigation into the incident.
Russian officials said that the plane crashed in a snowy field near the town of Korochansky district. Independent groups could not visit the accident site; Ukraine asked the Red Cross and the United Nations to get it.
Satellite images and unverified Russian video captured the sightings crash site and garbage An aircraft in Russian territory was described, but the passengers could not be recognized from the image.
Ukrainian officials asked citizens for patience while investigating Moscow’s claims.
Identifying victims
Prisoner exchanges took place regularly throughout the war, even in bitter combat. But the Ukrainian authorities usually Don’t even tell familiesNames of those to be released before the exchanges.
Russian authorities did not identify the victims of the accident when they announced it. However names It was claimed that there were 65 prisoners on the plane shared on social media By the editor-in-chief of the Russian State Media Broadcaster, RT
A few days later, a Ukrainian government agency controls the POWs confirmed that there are names The list corresponded to those to be exchanged on the day of the accident. But the agency said there was no evidence to confirm that the detainees were on board, or even dead.
Sofia SoBolyeva said her family received a phone call from the military demanding a meeting. Ms Sobolyeva’s father had been in Russian captivity since March 2022 – shortly after the start of the war – and was on the list.
“They gathered us and explained the situation, but did not answer any questions,” he said. Authorities said they would investigate “quickly” and asked relatives to submit DNA.
A break in case
The case fell out of the headlines for months. In early November, the balance sheet exchange was the first sign of a potential break.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed that it is available for the remains of 8 November 8. Russia said the transfer included the remains of the 65 people who landed on IL-76, but this claim could not be independently verified.
“The ICRC was not involved in the identification process,” the agency said in response to questions this week, saying it was ready to help authorities with technical support.
Ms. Sobolyeva was told by Ukrainian authorities that the families of the 65, who formed a WhatsApp group, learned about the transfer and that “time was needed for the DNA experiment.”
Investigators found DNA matches for more than 50 of those bodies, but it was still not possible to say whether they were the same bodies they said were found at the crash site, according to a report released Friday. Media initiative for human rightsa Ukrainian group investigating war crimes.
For the better part of the last year, official data has been trying to bring some clarity.
Outstanding questions
The Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the Security Service did not respond to questions from the New York Times about the status of the investigation or whether there were any remains.
But there seems little dispute over who got off the plane.
The Russian Defense Ministry launched Ukrainian missile launchers from the nearby Kharkiv region of Ukraine that shot down the plane. American officials He gave information about the incident Later, Ukraine said it used a Patriot Air Defense missile to hit the plane.
Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility, but Ms. Sobolyeva said she was now nearing the point.
“Logically, we understand that Ukraine shot him,” he said, although nothing is official.
What is certain is that it does not answer the other questions of the families and why it happened and why.
He described his father as a kind man with “Golden hands” – something that could fix anything, who loved to garden.
“There was a lot of stress and tears, but I still can’t understand what happened,” said MS. Sobolyeva said last evening.
“Now,” he said, “I only wear my black hat, so I feel warm—warm both mentally and physically.”
