Russia provides no updates on alleged death of Ukrainian prisoners on Il-76 plane crash – head of Ukraine’s intelligence

The Russian Federation has not provided any new information about the Ukrainian prisoners of war who allegedly died after the downing of the Russian Il-76 plane.

The head of Ukraine's intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, stated this on the air of the national telethon.

According to him, the lack of any information forces us to return to the question of who was actually on board the downed plane.

"When Russia says that everything is obvious there, that Ukraine crashed, and then does not allow anyone in and does not show any wreckage or bodies that should prove to the world that Ukraine is guilty, then this is not the case," Budanov said.

He also emphasized that Ukraine appealed to the international community to conduct an objective investigation at the site of the plane crash, as Kyiv cannot do this. Budanov also emphasizes that Ukraine is waiting for the bodies.

It should be noted that at the beginning of March, the Russian ombudsman Tetiana Moskalkova stated that Russia could "shortly" hand over the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war who allegedly died as a result of the wreckage of the IL-76 plane in the Belgorod region.

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Earlier, Rubryka wrote that a Russian Il-76 military plane crashed after takeoff in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian prisoners of war might have been on board.

Subsequently, it became known that all the necessary information about the Russian Il-76 plane, which crashed in Russia, is being collected and analyzed by the Ukrainian coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war and other specialized structures: the Russian Federation claims that there were Ukrainian prisoners on board.

It's worth mentioning that Ukraine's intelligence confirmed that the prisoner exchange with Russia was being prepared for January 24, but it was ultimately suspended.

The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces made the first statement against the background of the downfall of the IL-76 in Russia.

Ukraine's intelligence noted that the planned exchange of prisoners of war between Ukraine and Russia did not take place. However, the Ukrainian side fulfilled its part of the agreement.

ISW noted that Russian propagandists are using the Il-76 disaster to sow internal discontent in Ukraine and undermine the West's desire to continue providing military support to Ukraine.

Later, the representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, stated that Russia does not respond to Ukraine's requests for the return of the bodies of prisoners of war who allegedly died on board the IL-76.

Oleksiy Danilov, the former Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, recently stated that there were no Ukrainian prisoners on board the IL-76. In his opinion, if the prisoners of war had really died, Russia would have used it for propaganda purposes.

On January 31, a significant prisoner exchange took place, with 207 Ukrainians returning to Ukraine. However, among the released soldiers were not those whom Russia supposedly transported via the Il–76 aircraft.