relatives confirmed the death of three Il-76 crew members

Journalists of the “Schemes” project of the Ukrainian service of Radio Liberty established the names of six crew members of the Il-76 military transport plane that crashed in the Belgorod region. The death of at least three of them was confirmed by their relatives.

According to the project, the crew belonged to the 117th Military Transport Aviation Regiment stationed in Orenburg. Relatives confirmed to journalists the death of three crew members – 36-year-old ship commander Stanislav Bezzubkin, ship navigator Aleksey Vysokin and 38-year-old flight engineer Andrey Piluev.

Under the photo on social networks of another Il-76 crew member – on-board radio operator Ihor Sablynsky – comments appeared expressing condolences for his death.

Also, flight engineer of the airborne equipment Sergey Zhitenev and assistant commander of the ship named Chmyrev were supposed to be in the plane. Their death has not yet been independently confirmed.

Journalists were unable to independently verify reports that Ukrainian prisoners were also on board.

• On Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Defense of Russia reported that an IL-76 had crashed in the Belgorod Region. On board, as it is said, there were 65 captured servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who were being taken to the Belgorod region for exchange, six crew members and three escorts. All of them, according to the authorities, died. The GUR of Ukraine subsequently confirmed that on January 24, the exchange of prisoners was supposed to take place.
• “Ukrainskaya Pravda” and “RBK-Ukraine” reported with reference to sources that the IL-76 was shot down by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The plane, according to published data, was carrying missiles for S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems for shelling of the Kharkiv region. Later, both editions edited the news, removing the mention of the involvement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the downing of the plane.
• The GUR of Ukraine stated that at the moment there is no reliable information about who exactly was on board the plane and how many. According to the statement of the witness, the safety of the Ukrainian prisoners of war should have been ensured by the Russian side. The message states that “the Ukrainian side was not notified of the need to ensure the safety of the airspace in the region of Belgorod during a certain period of time, as was repeatedly done in the past.” GUR claims that the Ukrainian side was also not informed about the number of vehicles, routes and forms of delivery of prisoners.