They Knew It.

About IL-76 with 65 VSU POWs for exchange. 

On Wednesday at 11:15 Moscow time, reports came in that an IL-76 military transport plane carrying Ukrainian POWs had crashed and exploded in a field near the village of Yablonovo in the Korochansky district of Belgorod Region, which neighbors Ukraine.

The salvo of two AD missiles which downed this plane whose schedule (time of departure, flight plan etc.) was known in advance by Kiev regime came from the village of Liptsy, which is about 40 kilometers from Belgorod proper and the range of intercept was likely even less--the range for any medium-range AD system. The names of 65 VSU POWs are known now and the list has been published. In the same time, Russian MoD reports today:

МОСКВА, 24 янв — РИА Новости. Российские военные впервые сообщили об уничтожении в зоне специальной военной операции французского зенитного ракетного комплекса SAMP-T. «В течение суток уничтожены склады боеприпасов 31-й механизированной и 26-й артиллерийской бригад ВСУ, зенитный ракетный комплекс SAMP-T французского производства", — говорится в сводке военного ведомства. ЗРК SAMP-T предназначен для противовоздушной обороны войск и механизированных соединений, находящихся на марше, а также обеспечения противовоздушного прикрытия стационарных объектов.

Translation: MOSCOW, January 24 – RIA Novosti. The Russian military reported for the first time the destruction of a French SAMP-T anti-aircraft missile system in a special military operation zone. “Within 24 hours, ammunition depots of the 31st mechanized and 26th artillery brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a French-made SAMP-T anti-aircraft missile system were destroyed,” says the military department’s report. The SAMP-T air defense system is designed for air defense of troops and mechanized formations located on the march, as well as providing air defense cover for stationary objects.  

SAMP-T is a good ol' Aster family missile complex and it can reach to 100 kilometer range. But in case of IL-76 it could be even IRIS-T. Doesn't matter, really, the issue is simple, this was done deliberately and again only for PR purposes. Apart from 6 members of the crew of IL-76 and 3 liaison officers from Russia, Kiev regime slaughtered 65 own people. This is everything you need to know about this whole situation. Some people often bring up the argument of some sort of "success" on part of Washington in a sense that "Slavs are fighting Slavs". This argument is BS--Slavic Czechs worked for Nazi Germany non-stop in WW II and had very few problems doing it, many Poles hate Russian guts, Ukies marked their participation in both Chechnya wars primarily as snipers and torturers of Russian POWs who would give the run for the money to Dr. Mengele and SS. In present 404 there are very few people who have sympathy for Russia--this is brainwashed, hateful population (primarily) and it will face a long road of denazification once the SMO concludes. Nazi is Nazi, no matter the ethnicity or religion.