Russia opens 鈥榯errorism鈥� probe into military plane crash

In this grab taken from a handout footage released by the Russian Investigative Committee on Jan. 25, 2024, an investigator works at the Russian IL-76 military transport plane crash site in the Belgorod region. (AFP)
Short Url
  • 鈥淎 criminal case under a terrorist act is being investigated in the Belgorod region on the Il-76 plane,鈥� Russia鈥檚 Investigative Committee said
  • The Committee said 鈥渆xperienced detectives, criminalists and experts鈥� were working at the scene

MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday opened a 鈥渢errorism鈥� investigation over a military plane crash near the border with Ukraine after it accused Kyiv of downing the aircraft, which it said had more than 60 captured Ukrainian soldiers onboard.
The Russian defense and foreign ministries have blamed Ukrainian forces for downing the IL-76 transport plane over the southern Belgorod region on Wednesday.
鈥淎 criminal case under a terrorist act is being investigated in the Belgorod region on the Il-76 plane,鈥� Russia鈥檚 Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement.
Moscow said there were no survivors among the 65 Ukrainian POWs, three crew members and three military personnel onboard.
The Investigative Committee said 鈥渆xperienced detectives, criminalists and experts鈥� were working at the scene, adding that 鈥渢he plane was downed by a 鈥渕issile from the territory of Ukraine.鈥�
鈥淔ragmented remains of people were found, as well as the flight recorders of the aircraft, which were sent for decoding,鈥� it said.
The Committee also said it was working to identify 鈥減ersons among the Ukrainian armed forces鈥� that it said were behind the crash.
Moscow has not provided any public images or evidence that Ukrainian soldiers were onboard, or shown proof that Kyiv knew its men were on the plane.
It has also not revealed the identities of the people onboard.