New photos of the Il-76 indicate it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, experts say.
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BBC Verify showed several experts footage showing damage to a Russian military transport plane that crashed in the Belgorod region on January 24. One image in particular shows holes punched into the sides of the plane.
Experts say this indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.
The damage pattern corresponds to a HE-FRAG warhead, very common on surface-to-air missiles. This is evidenced by dozens of holes of varying sizes caused by debris that damaged the fuselage as a result of the warhead explosion, says Christopher Petrov, a ground-based air defense expert at Janes, a military intelligence firm.
Based on the damage we see, rockets or mortars cannot be ruled out, but it would be very difficult to hit an aircraft flying with these unguided munitions. It’s likely a surface-to-air missile, but it’s hard to say which one specifically, explains Andres Gannon, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University who specializes in security.
According to two other experts, the debris clearly indicates that the plane was shot down, but it is too early to draw firm conclusions about the type of projectile used based on the images.
Source: Racurs
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