Russia's investigative committee says Il-76 plane crash result of missiles fired by Patriot system

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia's Investigative Committee on Thursday announced that its investigation into the military plane crash in the country’s Belgorod region last week concluded that the plane was “downed” by missiles fired by a Patriot air defense system.

“According to the conclusion of the examinations carried out during the investigation, the fragments seized from the scene of the incident … are structural elements of the MIM-104A anti-aircraft guided missile of the US Patriot complex,” said a statement on Telegram.

The statement said examinations at the crash site had revealed 116 fragments of hulls and mechanisms of two missiles with “inscriptions and markings” in English 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) northeast and 4.8 km (2.9 mi) southeast of the area.

It also said that, during the examinations, traces of hexogen with “impurities of up to 10% octogen" were found in “washouts from objects,” which it described as “typical for foreign-made explosives.”

Ukrainian authorities have yet to comment on the statement.

A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin also declared that the plane was “downed” by an American Patriot system.

Expressing that Russia insists on holding an international investigation into the crash, Putin went on to say that he did not understand why Ukraine downed the plane.

On Feb. 24, Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of shooting down a plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian servicemen for a prisoner exchange.

The crew and all passengers on the plane were killed, it said, calling it "a terrorist attack" mounted to accuse Russia of killing Ukrainian servicemen.

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence claimed that the incident could be a “planned and deliberate” action by Moscow to “destabilize” the situation, saying it currently does not have “reliable and comprehensive information” about who and how many people were onboard.​​​​​​​

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will insist on an international investigation into the crash.