oh it could get spicy
One ukrainian source took credit for shooting down the IL-76, while Russia accused Ukraine of shooting it down with a Patriot system. I'm also seeing sources claiming the Russians said that it was a flight that Ukraine was notified about under a flag of truce, flying in a zone they don't normally fly because of the AA threat, carrying POWs for an exchange that was supposed to take place today. Can't confirm the Russian claims (I mean, confirm that they even made the claims) easily since Russian-language sources are much harder than english Ukrainian propaganda sites to find
Won't surprise me if Ukraine whitewashes this so probably want to archive it:
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/01/24/7438639/Quote
Ukrainska Pravda's sources in the Armed Forces confirmed the downing of the aircraft, saying that "it was their job". Sources in the General Staff stated the plane was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.
So we might be looking at a far more significant incident, if Ukraine shot down a plane carrying their own POWs headed to a prisoner exchange that they agreed to and had already committed to deconfliction for the flight path
/e Russian sources also saying the same plane was used in previous prisoner exchanges multiple times and was kept at its own closed airport just for prisoner exchanges in the airspace that was otherwise empty
This post was edited by Goomshill on Jan 24 2024 04:26am