A Russian cargo plane carrying dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) for exchange was downed last week by a US-made Patriot air defense system, the country’s Investigative Committee has confirmed.
In a statement on Thursday, the agency said that it had identified the type of weapon used to shoot down the Il-76 last Wednesday over Belgorod Region. There were 65 Ukrainian POWs, three Russian troops, and six crew members on board, all of whom died in the crash.
The Investigative Committee said that Ukraine fired two missiles from a staging area in Kharkov Region, not far from the village of Liptsy, some 10km from the Russian border.
Officials said that during the investigation they found 116 missile fragments bearing inscriptions in English, with one of them reading: “CONFIDENTIAL classified by PATRIOT SECURITY CLASSIFICATION GUIDE DATED: 9/22/83 ADDENDA DATED 11/28/83 8/8/84 CONTRACT NO/DAAH01-86C-A018.”
Source: Russia’s Investigative Committee
Another piece also read “Raytheon,” a reference to one of the designers of the Patriot air defense system, the statement said, adding that an extensive series of forensic tests found that the composition of the explosives indicates they were most likely produced abroad.
The man who critically injured Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday was a fierce…
The Asia-Pacific region should be free of military blocs because of their potential to undermine…
Russian President Vladimir Putin was welcomed with an honor guard after his plane touched down…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has set the stage for his state visit to China by…
С каждым днем онлайн-казино становятся все более популярными среди азартных игроков. И это вполне логично:…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially appointed Andrey Belousov as the new minister of defense.Belousov,…