MOSCOW, March 17 Vladimir Putin instructed the Investigative Committee to publish the results of the investigation into the causes of the crash of the Il-76 plane in the Belgorod region, the corresponding document was published on the Kremlin website.
It is specified that the report must be submitted before July 1. The head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin, was appointed responsible.
On January 24, the Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down an Il-76 military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces over the Belgorod region, in which 65 Ukrainian prisoners were flying for exchange. All of them, as well as three accompanying Russian officers and six crew members, were killed.
It was established that the Ukrainian military attacked the plane with two missiles from the area of the village of Liptsy, Kharkov region. The investigation found that these were MIM-104A anti-aircraft guided missiles from the American Patriot complex.
Vladimir Putin called the incident a crime of Kyiv against its own citizens. According to him, the Ukrainian side knew that there were Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war on board the Il-76, and nevertheless struck — either through negligence or on purpose. The Foreign Ministry said that the plane crash raises a big question about the possibility of at least some agreements with Kiev.
Officially, Kiev talks about the need for an international investigation, but unofficially the local media has launched a thesis that the Il-76 was carrying missiles for S -300, and the Western media are trying to hush up the situation. Putin said that Russia also insists on an investigation, but there are no volunteers from international organizations yet.