The State Department responded rudely to the question about the terrorist attack with the Il-76. Washington refused to believe Russia's information about the disaster

Deputy spokesman for the US State Department Vedant Patel responded rudely to a question from a Sputnik journalist about the possibility of Washington initiating an investigation into the Kyiv terrorist attack against the Russian Il-76, which had Ukrainian prisoners of war on board.

During the briefing, Patel refused to answer the question directly. Instead, he asked the reporter a counter question: whether his evidence met “the same level of credible evidence that the Russians show when telling the truth about other things.”

Thus, the White House refused to comment on the data that a Russian Il-76 plane with Ukrainian prisoners of war on board was shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces using an American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system. The US administration forwarded this question to Kyiv.

The Russian Embassy is seeking meetings with the US administration on the Il-76

As a source at the Russian embassy in Washington reported, the diplomatic mission is seeking meetings with representatives of the White House and the US State Department on the situation surrounding the Il-76 terrorist attack.

It is clarified that the diplomatic mission began to seek meetings immediately after the disaster occurred.

Kiev did not respond to Moscow’s request for Il-76

The Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Tatyana Moskalkova, said that after the plane crash, her Ukrainian colleague Dmitry Lubinets approached her with a number of questions. She also contacted him on the issue of “providing information about rocket attacks on Belgorod by Ukrainian armed forces that day,” but received no response.

The Russian Ombudsman published her letter to Lubinets with information about the downed plane. In it, she rejects accusations that Russia is responsible for the incident.

Taking into account full awareness of the said plane, the persons in it, the route of movement and other circumstances, the blame for what happened lies entirely with the Ukrainian authorities

Tatiana MoskalkovaCommissioner for Human Rights in Russia

An Il-76 plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed on January 24

The Il-76 plane crashed on January 24 in the Belgorod region. On board, in addition to six crew members, there were 65 captured soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and three accompanying persons. The plane was shot down by Ukrainian troops.

The Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) stated that they had established the point from which the plane was struck. According to the department, it was revealed that the weapons of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were located in the village of Liptsy, Kharkov region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the results of the examination in the case of the Il-76 crash in the Belgorod region. According to him, the aircraft was shot down by the American Patriot system. At the same time, Putin admitted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces could have shot down the plane through negligence.