As part of the criminal case regarding the terrorist act that resulted in the crash of the IL-76M aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, a series of investigative actions have been carried out, including complex examinations, which have established the involvement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the crime.

It has been established that on January 24, 2024, based on the previous agreements with the Ukrainian side, an exchange of prisoners of war from each side was planned at the Kolotilovka checkpoint on the border of Belgorod and Sumy regions. The leadership of the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Ukrainian Armed Forces was reliably informed that on the specified date, Ukrainian prisoners of war would be delivered to the exchange location. Despite that, an order was given to destroy the aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which was transporting 65 Ukrainian citizens.

According to the investigation, the aircraft, en route to the "Severny" airfield (Belgorod), was hit by an anti-aircraft missile from the American "PATRIOT" system, launched by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The aircraft subsequently crashed near the village of Yablonovo in the Korochansky district of the Belgorod region.

All 6 crew members, 3 military police officers of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and 65 Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen being transported for exchange were killed. The identities of all the deceased have been established. Forensic examinations have established that their deaths were caused by aviation-related injuries sustained during the crash.

At the time of the attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the aircraft was in technically sound condition, with all systems operating normally, as has been confirmed by the data decoded from the flight data recorder.

At the crash site, the investigation retrieved 116 fragments of the aircraft's bodies and mechanisms, some of which had the "PATRIOT" markings. Additionally, a missile fragment was extracted from the body of one of the deceased. Comprehensive explosive technical examinations have confirmed that the recovered fragments were parts of two MIM-104 guided anti-aircraft missiles from the "Patriot" system, developed and manufactured by Raytheon and Hughes Corporations in the USA.

According to video recordings from external surveillance cameras, the aircraft was struck by the first missile at an altitude of about 4,000 meters. The second missile didn’t reach the target and was self-destructed.

The results of the comprehensive technical examination indicated that the missiles were launched from a single complex located in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, as recorded by the objective radar control systems.

The investigation has completed a detailed layout of the aircraft's structural fragments. Further investigative actions concluded that the detonation of the missile's warhead occurred in front of the cockpit from above and to the left in the direction of flight. Multiple penetrative damages characteristic of anti-aircraft guided missile fragments have been identified.

Currently, a comprehensive commission aviation-technical-explosive technical forensic examination is ongoing.

The investigation has information about which Ukrainian Armed Forces units are equipped with the aforementioned missile systems. Taking this into account, in coordination with the Russian Ministry of Defense, work continues to identify specific officials involved in organizing this terrorist act to hold them criminally accountable.

Official representative of the Russian Investigative Committee S. Petrenko.