On 24 January 2024, at around 11:15 MSK, a

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

Ilyushin Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-1 ...

military transport plane crashed near the Ukrainian border in Russia's Korochansky district in

Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Belgorod. , the population is 1,540,486. History During the Princely ...

, killing everyone on board. Russia stated that the plane was shot down by Ukraine while it was carrying 65 Ukrainian

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

(POWs) captured during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, as well as six crew members and three guards, and that the prisoners of war were to be exchanged in a swap. The

General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine () is the military staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration and oversees operational management of the armed forces under the Ministry of De ...

did not directly take responsibility for shooting down the airplane, but stated that it was a

legitimate military target A legitimate military target is an object, structure, individual, or entity that is considered to be a valid target for attack by belligerent forces according to the law of war during an armed conflict. Overview Protocol I to the Geneva Convent ...

and that it was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles for bombing Kharkiv Oblast. Some French and US officials said that the downing of the aircraft was caused by a

Patriot missile The MIM-104 Patriot is a mobile interceptor missile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary such system used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives it ...

fired by the Ukrainian army.

Background

Ukraine's Coordination HQ on the Treatment of POWs estimates that more than 8,000 Ukrainian civilians and military personnel are being held prisoner by Russia since the start of its invasion in 2022, with tens of thousands still unaccounted for. Prior to the crash, on 3 January, Ukraine returned 248 POWs to Russia in exchange for 230 of its citizens in the largest such prisoner exchange of the conflict, following mediation by the United Arab Emirates. Belgorod Oblast, where the crash happened, has been the scene of spillovers and cross-border fighting with Ukraine, with an

airstrike An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and drones. The official d ...

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

city on 30 December 2023 killing 25 people and injuring more than 100 others.

Aircraft and crew

The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose aircraft, with a military version for carrying troops, equipment and ammunition. Russian officials said that 65 of the occupants were Ukrainian prisoners of war, and that six Russian crew members and three guards were also on board. The Russian

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

said the crash occurred "during a routine flight". The 65 Ukrainian soldiers were supposedly being transported to Belgorod Oblast for a prisoner exchange at the Kolotilovka border crossing 100 kilometers west of Belgorod city. The Russian military said the flight originated from

Chkalovsky Air Base Chkalovsky is a military air base near Shchyolkovo, Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located 31 km northeast of Moscow. The airport name is also given as Chkalovskoye. The facility should not be confused with Kaliningrad Chkalovsk or Omsk ...

near

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. The Il-76 and the crew belonged to the (military base No. 45097), the regiment's tasks include servicing military vehicles transporting special cargo for material support of the Russian army. The regiment's aircraft are stationed at Orenburg airfield. Russian news media reported a crew of six people, consisting of captain Stanislav Alekseevich Bezzubkin (35), co-pilot Vladislav Vadimovich Chmirev (24), navigator Alexey Anatolyevich Vysokin (31), flight engineer Andrey Leonidovich Piluev (38), technician Sergey Nikolaevich Zhitenev (34), and radio operator Igor Vyacheslavovich Sablinsky (54).

Crash

The crash occurred in a field about from Yablonovo, Belgorod Oblast, according to the village's rector. According to

Viktor Bondarev Viktor Nikolayevich Bondarev (; born 7 December 1959) is a retired Russian colonel general and former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces (1 August 2015 – 26 September 2017), and the former Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force ...

, former Commander of the

Russian Aerospace Forces The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...

, an external impact was reported by the crew before the crash. The ''

Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' (''MT'') is an Amsterdam-based independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking to ...

'', citing analysis of videos of the crash on social media, reported that the military plane was flying away from the border with Ukraine when it crashed. At 10:35 MSK the

governor of Belgorod Oblast Governor of Belgorod Oblast () is the highest official and the head of the executive power of Belgorod Oblast, a region in Central Russia. History of office The office of the Head of Administration was introduced in Russia in August 1991 during ...

Vyacheslav Gladkov Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Gladkov (; born 15 January 1969) is a Russian politician serving as the governor of Belgorod Oblast since 27 September 2021. He served as the acting governor from 18 November 2020 before his election. He is a member of t ...

, reported that the

air defense system Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...

of the Belgorod Oblast shot down an aviation-type

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

with a

fixed-wing A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using Lift (force), aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft (in which a Helicopter rotor, r ...

over the village of , southwest of Yablonovo. At 11:12 MSK, he announced that a " missile alert" had been activated in the region and urged residents to take shelter. At 11:43 MSK he reported that the signal had been cancelled. The first media reports about the crash appeared at 11:48.

Investigations and claims of responsibility

According to Russia

Russia's foreign ministry accused Ukraine of downing the aircraft, calling it a "barbaric" act and stating that the aircraft was shot down by one of three missiles –

Patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

or IRIS – launched at it by Ukraine. Foreign minister

Sergei Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko during the Soviet Union. Lavrov was b ...

called the incident a "criminal" act by Ukraine and called for an urgent session of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

to demand an explanation from Ukraine; a meeting was set for the afternoon of 25 January, New York time, during which Russian and Ukrainian representatives reiterated their countries' positions and blamed each other for the incident. The Russian Defence Ministry said that the aircraft was shot down by two missiles that were fired from the Lyptsi area, across the border in

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

, citing its

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

systems. Andrei Kartapolov, the chairman of the defence committee of the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

of Russia, said that a second plane on its way to transport 80 Ukrainian POWs turned back following the incident, adding that "there can now be no talk of any other risonerexchanges". Kartapolov later said that Russia had warned Ukraine about the aircraft’s approach at least 15 minutes before the incident, which Ukrainian officials denied. The chair of the State Duma,

Vyacheslav Volodin Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin (, ; born 4 February 1964) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the 10th Chairman of the State Duma since 2016. He is a former aide to President Vladimir Putin. The former Secretary-General of the Unit ...

, said that the chamber would send a formal address to the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

and the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

over the incident to demand that they "recognize their responsibility". Presidential spokesperson

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.Kyiv regime". President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

said that it was "obvious" that Ukraine had downed the aircraft, and said that Kyiv had known beforehand of the arrangements for the transport of the prisoners aboard the plane. He also pledged to publicize the results of the Russian investigation "so that people in Ukraine know what really happened." Putin later said that the aircraft was shot down by a Patriot missile system. On 25 January, the

Investigative Committee of Russia The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF; ) has since January 2011 been the main federal investigating authority in Russia. Its name (''Sledstvennyi komitet'') is usually abbreviated to ''SKR'' (). The agency replaced the Ru ...

opened a terrorism investigation into the incident and released footage of the crash site, showing traces of blood and parts of human remains, including a tattoo depicting a

tryzub The coat of arms of Ukraine is a blue shield with a golden trident. It is colloquially known as the ''tryzub'' (, , ). The small coat of arms was officially adopted on 19 February 1992, while constitutional provisions exist for establishing ...

. It later released a blurry video purportedly showing prisoners being transported to the aircraft. On 30 January,

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

, citing a security agency source, reported that the aircraft was brought down by an "external impact" based on analysis of its black boxes.

According to Ukraine

Ukrainska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...

'' had reported that sources in the Ukrainian general staff said the aircraft was carrying S-300 missiles, and that Ukraine had shot down the aircraft. It later amended the report to say this did not indicate Ukrainian involvement. The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which is the Ukrainian agency in charge of POWs, accused Russia of "actively carrying out special information operations against Ukraine, which are aimed at destabilising Ukrainian society". The independent Russian media outlet '' iStories'', citing Ukrainian

OSINT Open source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from open sources (overt sources and publicly available information) to produce actionable intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforceme ...

investigations, reported that the aircraft had flown over Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea and Iran before disappearing from radars and reappearing over Belgorod Oblast. According to a spokesperson for Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine was scheduled on the day of the crash, yet it did not happen. It also said that on the day of the incident, its counterparts in Russia had not informed them of the need to ensure the safety of the area's airspace, contrary to previous practices, and had already transported the Russian POWs that were supposed to be exchanged to the designated venue. The agency said that the incident may have been a "deliberate" move by Russia to "create a threat to the life and safety of the prisoners." On 25 January, the HUR said that it had received intelligence that several senior Russian military and political officials were supposed to be on board the aircraft but were told by the

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation �СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...

(FSB) to take other forms of transportation instead. It also said that the FSB and the Russian military prevented emergency workers from inspecting the crash site, while at least five bodies were recovered and sent to a morgue in Belgorod, and no other human remains were found at the scene, citing video taken of the area. The HUR also hypothesized that the aircraft might have been shot down by friendly fire while Russian air defenses tried to intercept a drone. Reacting to Russian assertion of POWs on board, it also said that Russia was possibly using Ukrainian POWs as human shields to transport weapons and ammunition. In his address that evening, President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

said that it was "obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society", but did not confirm the presence of POWs aboard the aircraft, saying that it was still being clarified by the HUR. Zelenskyy also said that the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( ; abbreviated as SBU [] or SSU) is the main Internal security, internal security agency of the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government. Its main duties include counter-intelligence activity and combati ...

was also investigating the crash, and ordered his foreign minister

Dmytro Kuleba Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba ( ; born 19 April 1981) is a Ukrainian politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was concurrently a member of the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine. The youngest foreign affai ...

to inform international partners about the data available to Ukraine during the course of the investigation. He also insisted on an international investigation to determine what had happened. Likewise, Ukrainian human rights ombudsman said that he would send letters to the United Nations and the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

urging them to call for an investigation.

According to other countries

The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reported on the evening of 24 January, that after eight hours of no official information being given, two official statements were made by the Ukrainian General Staff and the HUR that "amount to acknowledgement that Ukraine may have shot the plane down". Western military analysts also told

BBC News Russian BBC News Russian () – formerly BBC Russian Service () – is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of nearly 40 languages it provides. History The BBC's first Russian-language broadcast was a translation of a speech ...

that video taken of the crash indicated that the aircraft was shot down.

France Info France Info (; stylised as franceinfo:) is a French public broadcasting service is a brand of news service participated by France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel. The service in ...

reported that according to a French military source, the aircraft was hit by a US-made Patriot air defence battery operated by the Ukrainian army. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported on 8 February that, according to anonymous US officials, the Il-76 was shot down by an American Patriot missile operated by Ukraine, and that claims that there were Ukrainian POWs on board were "probable".

Identification of victims

The first victims to be recovered were found around 1.5-2 kilometers from the crash site. ''

Russia Today RT, formerly Russia Today (), is a Russian state-controlled international news television network funded by the Russian government. It operates pay television and free-to-air channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as pro ...

'' chief editor

Margarita Simonyan Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (born 6 April 1980) is a Russian media executive. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, Upon analyzing the list, Ukraine's public broadcaster

Suspilne The National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine JSC (, ''NTSU''), also known as Suspilne (, , ) or previously UA:PBC, is the national public broadcaster of Ukraine. As such it was registered on 19 January 2017. and requested that the bodies of those who died be repatriated, but had not received a response from Russia. On 9 February, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov reiterated the non-existence of Ukrainian POWs on board the aircraft in an interview with Babel, citing the absence of large quantities of "biological material" at the crash site. One of the names on Simonyan's list of POWs killed in the crash was Maxim Anatolievich Konovalenko, a prisoner known to have already been repatriated to Ukraine during an exchange on 3 January 2024. In February 2025, an official of Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in an interview that most of the bodies' remains had DNA matches with that of the relatives of the prisoners of war. He said that whether the remains belonged to the bodies onboard the plane was not confirmed. On April 2025, the Ukrainian Deputy

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, Leonid Tymchenko said in an interview that from the 60 Ukrainian POWs dead from the aircraft shot-down, 500 remains handed by Russia were being studied by DNA specialists to get a DNA profile to help with the identification.

Aftermath

The governor of Belgorod Oblast, Vyacheslav Gladkov, posted on

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

that "an investigation team and emergency services" had been deployed to the crash site, adding that he had "travelled to the district." He also said there were no survivors. A team of investigators was also deployed by the Russian Aerospace Forces. The aircraft's flight recorders were recovered from the crash site on 25 January, with

saying that they would be sent to a laboratory of the Russian defense ministry for analysis. A nationwide air alert was briefly declared in Ukraine following the crash (11:41 – 13:58 EET) while President Zelenskyy cancelled a scheduled trip on 25 January. Following the crash, the Ukrainian military said that it would continue to attack Russian aircraft in Belgorod Oblast. On 26 January, a pre-planned exchange of war dead proceeded as scheduled between Russia and Ukraine, with 55 bodies of Russian fatalities being repatriated in return for 77 Ukrainian dead. United Nations undersecretary-general

Rosemary DiCarlo Rosemary Anne DiCarlo (born 1947) is an United States of America, American diplomat who has served as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs since May 2018. She previously served as acting United States Am ...

urged "all concerned to refrain from actions, rhetoric or allegations that could further fuel the already dangerous conflict." A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine called on Russia to repatriate the remains of POWs who may have died in the crash. On 28 January, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War was targeted in a cyberattack by Russian hackers that affected its information resources. The agency linked the cyberattack to the plane crash. An exchange of POWs between the warring countries was held on 31 January, in which 195 Russians and 207 Ukrainians were returned to their home countries. The exchange was brokered by the United Arab Emirates. None of the people present on the list provided by Russia were included in the swap. On 29 February, Russian presidential commissioner for human rights

Tatyana Moskalkova Tatyana Nikolayevna Moskalkova (; born May 30, 1955, Vitebsk, Byelorussian SSR, USSR) is a Russian lawyer, teacher, and politician. She has been Commissioner for Human Rights (Russia), Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights since 22 April 2016, s ...

said that Russia was willing to repatriate the remains of the POWs killed in the crash. In response, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets accused her of "speculating" on the crash, noting that Russia had not released an official passenger list or gave access to international organizations to the crash site. On 8 November, Russia repatriated the remains of 563 Ukrainian servicemen in exchange for the bodies of 37 Russians. Russian news channel Mash and

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

-based collaborationist group

We Are Together with Russia We Are Together with Russia (, ) is a pro-Russian collaborationist organization operating in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast and supported by the Russian authorities. It describes itself as an "integration movement". The movement activ ...

said that among the returned remains were 62 POWs who died in the crash. On 9 December, Tatyana Moskalkova said that the remains of the POWs killed in the crash had been returned to Ukraine following an exchange but did not give further details.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korochansky Ilyushin Il-76 crash, 2024 January 2024 in Russia Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia in 2024 Accidents and incidents involving the Ilyushin Il-76 Aviation in Belgorod Oblast Spillover of the Russian invasion of Ukraine History of Belgorod Oblast Korochansky District Accidents and incidents involving Russian Air Force aircraft Aviation accidents and incidents in 2024