A Russian army IL-76 transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war was shot down by a U. S. -made Patriot missile fired at Ukrainian forces, Russian investigators said Thursday.
Russia’s State Investigative Committee said Ukrainian forces fired two missiles at the plane, according to Reuters.
The Ukrainians have neither proven nor denied the downing of the plane, but have called for a foreign investigation. This is now the case with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It has been definitively established that the plane was shot down via a U. S. Patriot air defense system,” Putin said at a crusade event, according to the Moscow Times.
Translating his comments into English, the Times said Putin “insists” on an international investigation.
The IL-76 crashed on Jan. 24, killing the other 74 people on board, according to Russian sources cited via Reuters.
Of the 74, 65 were Ukrainians who were about to be repatriated as part of a prisoner swap, Russia said.
Investigators provided “images of body components” as evidence that some of the other people aboard the downed plane were in fact Ukrainians.
Some parts of the frame had tattoos that the Russians said matched those of Ukrainian soldiers. They also said they tested certain parts of the framework against DNA records from Ukrainian prisoners of war and found matches.
The Russian investigators also claimed to have found identity papers belonging to some of the Ukrainians prisoners killed.
According to a report by the commission of inquiry cited by Reuters, fragments of missiles with English inscriptions were discovered among the wreckage of the plane.
“CONFIDENTIAL classified by PATRIOT SECURITY CLASSIFICATION GUIDE DATED: 9/22/83 ADDENDUM DATED 11/28/83 8/8/84 CONTRACT NO/DAAH01-86C-A018′,” one of these fragments reportedly said.
Another fragment, one of 116 missile fragments believed to have been discovered at the site, bore the letters “ATRIOT,” Reuters reported.
“Ukraine did not immediately comment on the investigative committee’s decision,” Reuters reported.
The Times also cited other “Russian media” as reporting that preliminary findings from an examination of the plane’s flight data recordings indicated that it had been shot down, although the examination had not yet been completed.
Putin said it was “obvious” that the plane had been downed by the Ukrainian military, according to the outlet.
This article gave the impression of being in the Western Journal.
Omar made statements on one occasion in Minneapolis, in which he made statements of treason.
“I have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I’ve told my team and I’ve told the American public as well.
“The two persons of interest did not cooperate and the elements of any of the conceivable crimes were not met. “
“Maybe it’s an outlier. Maybe it’s not.”