The Ukrainian military vowed on Wednesday, in what appeared to be a thinly veiled confirmation of the downing of the Il-76 jet, that it would continue to target the Belgorod region and Russian military aircraft to defend itself against the bombings, AFP reported. The statement was made a few hours after the crash of the plane, which, according to the Russians, was transporting Ukrainian prisoners.

Valery ZaluzhnyiPhoto: Office of the President of Ukraine / Zuma Press / Profimedia

In a statement released hours after the crash, which did not mention it, the military vowed to continue to “destroy means of delivery and control airspace to eliminate the terrorist threat, including in the Belgorod-Kharkov area,” to counter Russian strikes on Ukraine.

On the morning of January 24, after the news broke, the sources of “Ukrainian Pravda” in the General Staff reported that the Il-76 plane was shot down by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“He brought death to the people of Kharkiv Oblast – he carried missiles for the S-300. [sisteme de rachete antiaeriene]”, the source said. There was no official confirmation of this information.

Currently, the General Staff noted in its statement that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are taking all measures to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.

“The intensity of the bombings is directly related to the increase in the number of military transport planes that have recently been heading to the Belgorod airfield.

In view of this, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to take measures to destroy means of transport and control the airspace to eliminate the terrorist threat, including on the Belgorod-Kharkiv front.”

Ukraine’s military intelligence service said on Wednesday that Kiev had not been asked to provide airspace protection over the southern Russian region of Belgorod, where a Russian Il-76 warplane crashed, as it had done in previous prisoner-of-war exchanges with Moscow.

In a Telegram message, the services said that Russia’s claims that Ukraine shot down a military transport plane with 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board in the Belgorod region on Wednesday could be “a planned action aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and weakening international support for our state.” .