MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - The downing of the Ilyushin Il-76 plane that crashed earlier this week in the Belgorod region will be investigated under the article of the Russian Criminal Code relating to terrorist acts, the Russian Investigative Committee said, adding that the flight recorders have been recovered and will be analyzed.
"The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case regarding this fact on the suspicion of a crime described in Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code (terrorist acts)," the committee said in a statement on Telegram on Thursday.
"During an inspection, the fragmented remains of people and the aircraft's flight recorders were found at the scene. The flight recorders have been sent for decoding," it said.
"The first results of investigative actions, including preliminary findings from the inspection of the crash site, lead us to conclude that the aircraft was attacked by an air defense missile from Ukrainian territory," it said.
"Witnesses and eyewitnesses to the incident are being questioned, and the inspection of the crash site is ongoing," and forensic studies have been ordered to examine the recovered fragments of the aircraft's fuselage and other material evidence, it said.
"A series of investigative actions is underway to identify the individuals belonging to Ukrainian armed formations involved in perpetrating this terrorist act," the Investigative Committee said.
On January 24, 2024, a Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft crashed several kilometers from the village of Yablonovo in the Belgorod region. Six crewmembers, military police officers, and more than 60 Ukrainian service members held in captivity were killed in the crash.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported the incident on the same day, saying that the Il-76 aircraft was shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which fired two air defense missiles at it from the Kharkov region.