Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed a military aircraft was shot down by an American missile system in Russia.
It comes after an investigation into the Ilyushin Il-76 plane crash that happened last Wednesday, January 24. Putin has now claimed the plane was shot down by the American Patriot defence system.
It comes after a source in law enforcement told Russian media outlet TASS: “Most likely, a Patriot missile system was used. A probe continues”. This was confirmed by another source, with one saying there was a “high probability” that Ukrainian troops used a US-supplied Patriot surface-to-air missile to down the plane.
The II-76 was a Russian military transport plane which Russia says was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners for an exchange. All those on board, including the six crew members and three accompanying Russian Armed Forces officers, died.
Russia initially accused Ukraine of shooting down the aircraft said to be carrying its own soldiers. In response, Ukraine did not confirm whether it had shot down the plane but said it would continue to destroy Russian military aircraft it believed were carrying missiles destined to be launched at Ukraine.
The II-76 is a large military transport plane, commonly used to carry soldiers, cargo and weapons. The plane went down in a huge fireball near Yablonovo, Belgorod Oblast, Russia, killing all 74 people believed to have been on board, according to the Russian defence ministry. However, Ukrainian military intelligence has said it does not have reliable information as to who was on board the aircraft.
