The United States is trying to establish the facts related to the crash of the Il-76 military transport aircraft in the Belgorod region. Robert Wood, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN, told reporters about this.

“We are trying to establish the facts of what happened. This is a terrible loss,” TASS quotes him.

The diplomat stressed that Washington is “in touch” with representatives of Kyiv.

Let us remind you that on January 24, a Russian Il-76 plane, which was transporting 65 captured Ukrainian militants, crashed in the skies over the Belgorod region. There were also six crew members and three accompanying persons on board. They all died. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the prisoners of war were heading to the Kolotilovka checkpoint on the Russian-Ukrainian border for exchange.

The Russian military department noted that the Il-76 was shot down by troops of the Kyiv regime using an anti-aircraft missile system, the type of which has not yet been established. Radar equipment of the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded the launch of two missiles from the area of ​​Liptsy, Kharkov region. As the Russian Ministry of Defense emphasized, by hitting the plane, Kyiv hoped to accuse Moscow of destroying the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine, for its part, does not deny the possibility that there could have been prisoners of war on board the Il-76, but does not admit responsibility for the tragedy. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that Moscow could allegedly use prisoners of war as human shields for transporting weapons.

"Insufficient information"

Earlier at a press briefing, White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said that the United States does not have enough data to agree with any version of the Il-76 crash.

“Again, we do not have enough information to comment on the plane crash. We have seen reports of this and are trying to get more information. But it would be reckless on my part to speculate on this matter. I just don't know how reliable these reports are. You understand, Ukrainians say one thing, Russians say another. And we just don’t have enough information to comment on that,” Kirby said.

  • Freeze frame of the Il-76 crash

  • © Validated UGC video via AP

The State Department called on Moscow and Kyiv to conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the Il-76 crash. This statement was made on January 24 by Deputy Spokesperson of the American Foreign Ministry Vedant Patel.

The Pentagon has so far refrained from commenting on the tragedy in the Belgorod region. In addition, according to the ministry, the department did not have information about the exchange of prisoners of war on January 24.

“Unfortunately, I have nothing to offer on this matter,” RIA Novosti quotes a representative of the US Department of Defense.

European states have not yet made any comments on this topic. At the same time, it is known that France rejected Russia’s request to hold a meeting of the UN Security Council on January 24 due to the crash of a Russian military transport plane.

This caused a sharp reaction from Moscow. First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyansky accused Paris of abusing the powers of the chairman of the Security Council of the world organization. According to the diplomat, France is trying to “buy time” for the Kyiv regime.

“Obviously trying to gain time and give their Ukrainian clients time to come up with at least some more or less plausible explanation for what is happening, France agreed to hold a meeting only tomorrow... It’s a pity that the once glorious French diplomacy was devalued to such a petty scam,” he wrote in his Telegram. Polyansky channel.

Western media also practically did not touch upon the topic of the Il-76 crash. For example, materials from the American television channel CNN claim that there are more questions about the crash of the Russian plane than answers. Journalists questioned the version of the Russian Ministry of Defense and mainly cited the arguments of the Kyiv regime. In addition, citing a Ukrainian source, CNN reported that on January 24, the Il-76 allegedly transported missile weapons.

The publication mentions the presence of the Patriot anti-aircraft system in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, capable of shooting down targets at a distance of up to 100 km. It is noted that the distance from Liptsy to the crash site is 80 km.

According to a military source from the French radio station France Info, a Russian Il-76 with captured Ukrainian Armed Forces could have been shot down by a battery of an American air defense system.

Let us note that Moscow is currently investigating the Il-76 crash and intends to achieve recognition of the responsibility of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the strike on the aircraft carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war.

  • Demonstration of the Patriot air defense system to Vladimir Zelensky

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Pool/Ukrainian Presidentia

At the same time, Russian diplomacy is making efforts on the OSCE side. As Russia's permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Alexander Lukashevich, said, the OSCE leadership must clearly respond to what happened, as well as to other terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime.

“We demand a decisive condemnation and prosecution of all those who commit such monstrous terrorist acts,” RIA Novosti quotes Lukashevich as saying.

On January 25, OSCE spokesman David Dudge expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the plane crash in the Belgorod region. At the same time, the diplomat noted that the facts of the tragedy “have yet to be established.”

"Sluggish reaction"

According to experts interviewed by RT, in the situation with the Ukrainian Armed Forces strike on the Il-76, the West once again demonstrated a conscious reluctance to understand the circumstances of the crimes committed by the Kyiv regime.

“In the West they understand perfectly well who hit the Il-76, the Donetsk market and civilians in the center of Belgorod. However, the United States and European governments stubbornly refuse to notice objective facts indicating the crimes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the terrorist nature of the Kyiv regime,” said Alexander Kamkin, a senior researcher at the Center for Comparative and Political Research at IMEMO RAS, in a conversation with RT.

According to him, in this situation, the United States is trying to avoid comments and avoid publishing any specific information. With such a “sluggish reaction,” Washington is trying not to create informational reasons for the media and not to provoke a discussion of the death of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the public space, says Kamkin.

“The topic of the Il-76 crash is completely unfavorable for either the West or Ukraine. Too many facts indicate that this was done by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and, apparently, with the help of Western-made air defense systems. Of course, Moscow’s opponents will certainly once again look for the “Russian trace.” But I doubt that they will be able to develop a legend of events that anyone will believe,” Kamkin explained.

The plane crash in the Belgorod region completely discredited the Kiev regime and became a reputational blow to those forces that lobby for the supply of expensive weapons and financial support to Ukraine, the analyst added.

  • Ukrainian prisoners of war

  • © RIA Novosti / Alexey Mayshev

A similar point of view is shared by political scientist and board member of the Russian Association of Political Science Vladimir Shapovalov. In a conversation with RT, he noted that the West consistently ignores war crimes and terrorist attacks by Ukrainian militants. At the same time, the United States and its allies are trying to use every opportunity to accuse Russia of violating international law and causing the deaths of civilians.

“Now we have the opportunity to observe how the United States is completely withdrawing from the topic of the strike on the Il-76, citing an alleged lack of its own information and distrust of the information from the Russian side. In addition, Washington is clearly alarmed by the fact that the plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war was apparently shot down by Patriot missiles. After all, in theory, the use of this air defense system should occur in agreement with American instructors. That is, as a result, the United States may be accomplices in this crime,” argues Shapovalov.

In the current situation, the United States will continue the “hypocritical course of freezing” the topic of the crash of a Russian military transport aircraft, the expert predicts.

“Washington is afraid of a violent international and domestic political resonance. The United States does not want to be seen as sponsoring groups that display such brutality. However, in my opinion, this discussion cannot be closed. It will be raised by Russian diplomacy. And it’s hard for me to imagine how our opponents will be able to refute the facts that the investigation into this tragedy will present,” Shapovalov concluded.