Putin says Ukrainian air defenses hit Russian military transport plane

In his first statement about the downed Il-76 Russian military transport aircraft, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian military hit the plane using air defenses.

“Under no circumstances could this have been ‘friendly fire’ as they say in such cases. Because the plane was hit by air defense missiles, not by military means. This is clear from the signs of impact. Our air defenses, by design, can’t strike our own aircraft. There are friend-or-foe identification systems in place, and no matter how much the operator would press the button, our air defense systems wouldn’t activate. Technology. And the means of destruction seized at the scene indicate that it was an air defense missile,” Putin said in a meeting with students participating in the war in Ukraine.

Pavel Zarubin, a correspondent for Russian state-owned broadcaster VGTRK, published a video of the meeting.

“Most likely, these are U.S. Patriot systems or European, most likely French. But in a few days, a precise answer will be given,” added Putin.

According to Putin, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate knew that the Russian side was transporting prisoners of war.

“I don’t know if they did this on purpose or by accident, due to oversight, but they did it. […] But we are only sorry for our pilots, I offer my sincere condolences to their family members,” said Putin.