The work to repatriate Russian prisoners of war from Ukraine will continue, despite the crash of an Il-76 aircraft in the Belgorod region. This announcement was made by Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Defense Committee of the State Duma, as reported by TASS.
“We will talk to the devil if we have to, we will work with the impure, but we need to bring our guys back. We have no other choice, we will negotiate,” said the parliamentarian.
The military plane, an Il-76, crashed in the Korochansky district of the Belgorod region on January 24th at around 11:00 AM Moscow time. On board were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six members of the aircraft’s crew, and three escorts. The prisoners were being transported for an exchange.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that the aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft missiles launched by the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for an international investigation into the Il-76 crash.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the incident of the Il-76 crash in the Belgorod region as an act of barbarism.
