US officials have admitted on condition of confidentiality that the Russian Il-76 aircraft carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war was shot down using a Patriot surface-to-air missile system. This was reported by The New York Times.
“Publicly, U.S. officials have not commented on exactly what was used to shoot down the plane, but officials who spoke privately on condition of anonymity said reports that a Patriot missile was used were correct,” the newspaper said in its piece.
The New York Times emphasised that US officials have not confirmed the identities of the passengers. However, according to them, there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the Russian aircraft.
We shall remind you that earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian aircraft IL-76, on board of which there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, three officers of the Russian Army and six crew members, was shot down by a US Patriot surface-to-air missile system (SAM) of the AFU.
