The Investigative Committee established the identity of the commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who ordered the shooting down of the Il-76 with prisoners

The order to shoot down the IL-76 aircraft with Ukrainian prisoners in 2024 was given by the commander of the missile brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Nikolay Dzyaman. This was announced on July 5 by the press service of the Investigative Committee of Russia following a meeting of the headquarters for the investigation of crimes of Ukrainian armed formations, held by the head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin.

During the meeting, they reported on the investigation into the crash of an IL-76 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) in the Belgorod region, carrying crew members and 65 Ukrainian servicemen.

It is specified that the aircraft was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile of the Patriot air defense system. Such systems, the Russian Investigative Committee noted, are in service with the 138th anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Ukrainian army.

"The military personnel who struck the aircraft were following an illegal order from brigade commander Nikolai Dzyaman and the higher command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A decision has been issued regarding Dzyaman to be charged with a terrorist act," the meeting emphasized.

Dzyaman has been put on the international wanted list, and the identities of other accomplices in the crime are being established, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation added.

The IL-76 plane crashed in the Belgorod region on January 24 last year. There were six crew members on board the plane, 65 Ukrainian prisoners for exchange and three Russian servicemen accompanying them. They all died.

On January 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an international investigation into the plane crash. Later, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation found a number of evidence that the Il-76 was shot down by a MIM-104A missile of the American Patriot air defense system, which was in service with the Ukrainian army.