The Main Directorate of Information (HUR) within the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense once again admitted on Tuesday the possibility that Russia may have used the 65 prisoners of war as human shields, who, according to the Kremlin’s version, lost their lives in the crash of the Russian aircraft Il-76.
The Moscow regime has not expressed “willingness” to hand over the lifeless bodies of the Ukrainian prisoners of war to Kiev, said Andrii Iusov, spokesman for HUR.
According to Iusov, Kiev has no evidence that the 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were supposed to be handed over on January 24th were on board the crashed Il-76 transport aircraft in the Belgorod region, near Ukraine.
HUR believes that it is possible for the aircraft to have been loaded only with weapons, as it is designated for this type of transport, Iusov emphasized.
Another hypothesis considered by HUR is that the crashed Il-76 in Belgorod was carrying both “ammunition and people” simultaneously, and that Russia used the Ukrainian prisoners of war as human shields.
“It needs to be investigated thoroughly,” Iusov said in an interview on the TV channel Suspilne, according to EFE and Agerpres.
A Russian Iliushin Il-76 military transport aircraft crashed on January 24th in the Belgorod region, approximately 50 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin version, which has not presented any evidence so far, the aircraft was carrying 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were to be exchanged that day for Russian prisoners, and was shot down by Ukrainian missiles launched from across the border.
Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged that a prisoner exchange was planned for that day and have not denied the shooting down of the aircraft, but have stated that they were not informed about the presence of prisoners on board, as was the case in other situations.
Ukrainian officials have also emphasized that Russian military aircraft flying over areas near the border are a legitimate target and have reproached Russia for not communicating about the presence of prisoners of war on board if that was indeed the case.
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