The fact that Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board the IL-76 plane that crashed in the Belgorod region in January 2024 remains unconfirmed, according to an investigation by the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MHR), UNN reports.
The fact that a plane went down in the Belgorod region is certain. The fact that a prisoner exchange was supposed to take place that day is certain. The fact that several planes were delivering prisoners of war for the exchange is certain. The fact that the plane that crashed landed at the Belgorod airport is certain. But it is not certain whether there were prisoners of war on board,
According to her, the investigators managed to find information about 21 of the 65 servicemen who were seen in detention facilities in the Russian Federation in January. They were in general cells, not in solitary confinement, and were seen. Their health condition was relatively stable, and there was no reason to believe that the prisoners about whom information was found could have died in detention.
All of these people were alive on January 23 and were taken out of their cells at different times, probably for exchange,
She also said that in addition to the IL-76, which could have been carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war, there was probably another plane with prisoners.
We managed to find out that at that very moment there was at least one other plane in the sky over the Belgorod region or on approach, also transporting prisoners of war,
She recalled that on the eve of the disaster, the Russian side announced that a prisoner exchange was planned, and about 200 prisoners of war were to be exchanged at that time.
If we count how many people were on board one plane, on board another plane, and could still be on the way, because we found prisoners of war who were taken out of their cells on the eve of the exchange but not put on the plane, the number was about 200,
She emphasized that this investigation is the first step towards establishing all the facts and the objective truth about what happened in the Belgorod region and will continue.
We are not ending our investigation. This material is more about stating the facts, about preserving the chronology of events in order not to lose evidence, not to lose any screenshots, news, expert opinions, in order to continue the investigation,
Recall
A year ago, a Russian Il-76 allegedly carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed in the Belgorod region . Russia blames Ukraine, but refuses to open an international investigation and does not provide evidence.