Investigators have found out that the military transport plane Il-76 of the Russian Air Force was shot down by two missiles from the US Patriot surface-to-air missile system on 24 January, and 116 fragments were found. This was reported in the press service of the Investigative Committee (IC) of the Russian Federation.
“According to the conclusion of the expertise conducted during the investigation, the fragments seized from the scene, according to their design features, geometric characteristics and available markings, are design elements of the MIM-104A anti-aircraft guided missile of the US Patriot complex, developed by Raytheon and Hughes corporations and manufactured by Raytheon,” the press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said.
It is established that the aircraft was attacked by two missiles from the area of Liptsy settlement in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. During the inspection of the scene at a distance of 1.8 km northeast and 4.8 km southeast of the alleged place of attack of the aircraft found 116 fragments of bodies and mechanisms of two missiles with inscriptions and markings in English, the IC added.
According to the results of the study with the use of methods of ion mobility spectrometry, gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection and high-performance liquid chromatography with mass-selective detection, it was found that the washes from the objects found traces of hexogen with impurities up to 10% octogenes, which is characteristic of foreign-made explosives.
We shall remind you that earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian Il-76 aircraft carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, three officers of the Russian Army and six crew members was shot down by a US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system (SAM) of the AFU. He noted that Moscow demanded an international investigation into the incident.