NYT: American officials confirm Patriot missile shot down Il-76 plane

Also: Ukraine’s Creative Use of Weapons Carries Promise and Risk (New York Times)

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Source: Kyiv Independent

NYT: American officials confirm Patriot missile shot down Il-76 plane

Rachel Amran
Thu, February 8, 2024 at 1:49 PM AST·2 min read

The American-made Patriot missile system is likely responsible for the Russian Il-76 plane crash, American officials anonymously told The New York Times. The plane was also likely carrying at least some Ukrainian prisoners, officials reported.

Russia's Il-76 military transport plane crashed in the country's Belgorod region on Jan. 24, allegedly killing everyone on board.

The cause of the crash is unclear, with Russia claiming that Ukraine's military shot the plane down as it carried 65 Ukrainian POWs. Kyiv has demanded an international probe into the incident.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency did not confirm whether prisoners were on the plane nor have they commented on what might have caused the crash.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/nyt-american-officials-confirm-patriot-174901607.html

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Source: New York Times

Ukraine’s Creative Use of Weapons Carries Promise and Risk

A Russian plane shot down with a Patriot missile was probably carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war, U.S. officials say.

By Julian E. Barnes and Marc Santora
Reporting from Washington and Kyiv
Feb. 8, 2024 Updated 11:39 a.m. ET

U.S. officials say Ukraine should continue to develop innovative ways to strike at Russian forces as the war approaches its third year. But Ukraine’s use of a Patriot missile to take down a plane last month is an example of how novel battlefield tactics can be fraught with peril as well as promise.

Unbeknown to Ukraine’s military, the Russian aircraft it targeted may have been carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war, according to U.S. officials.

The Patriot is a defensive system, usually used to protect a location and not to shoot down planes. A European partner provided the Patriot interceptor that hit the Russian Ilyushin-76 cargo plane on Jan. 24, according to American officials briefed on the incident.

Russian officials immediately claimed the aircraft was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were to be exchanged for Russian service members.

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Read more: https://archive.is/LXqyt

Original NYT link (paywall): https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/us/politics/ukraine-russia-patriot-missile.html