Poland's 'pragmatic' stance on Ukraine aid signals end to free handouts – analyst

The new “commercial” approach to aiding Ukraine announced by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk shows that even avid Kiev supporters like Warsaw are no longer able to provide it free of charge, Mateusz Piskorski, political observer and columnist for the Mysl Polska (Polish Thought) newspaper told Sputnik.

When Tusk mentioned commercial opportunities that Warsaw would be pursing, he was being pragmatic, hoping to give the Polish military-industrial complex a boost, the analyst said.

Polish and Ukrainian plans to explore opportunities for joint arms production were dismissed as “unrealistic” by Piskorski.

Poland does not have any special potential in the field of the defense industry, while Ukraine’s military facilities have been successfully targeted by Russian precision strikes, he noted. At the same time, Tusk’s remarks send a clear signal to Kiev’s Western patrons that free support at any cost is ending, Piskorski believes.

Earlier this week, while visiting Kiev, Tusk revealed that Ukraine would no longer be getting any free weapons from his country.

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❗️ Air raid alerts go off across all the territory of Ukraine

❗️ State Duma will prepare an appeal to the US Congress and Germany's Bundestag amid the Il-76 crash, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has said.

"There is a proposal to clarify which rockets and launchers were used, let's prepare an appeal to the US Congress and the German Bundestag so that lawmakers finally have an epiphany whom they are financing, whom they are helping. This is a Nazi regime, nourished by Biden, Macron, Scholz, and other politicians, they should realize their responsibility, and the members of the parliaments should declare impeachment," he said at the plenary session.

❗️ Ukrainian media outlets are reporting that Ukraine’s air defense forces shot down a Russian Il-76, which was transporting Ukrainian POWs to be swapped, over the Belgorod region.

If confirmed, this would not be the first time the Kiev regime has killed its own troops in Russian captivity. In July 2022, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a missile attack on the Yelenovka detenion center, which housed Ukrainian POWs.

What is Il-76, the plane that crashed over Belgorod region carrying Ukrainian PoWs?

▪️ The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multipurpose strategic airlifter designed for missions ranging from the transportation of personnel, heavy cargoes and military equipment to paratroop drops, emergency evacuations and, in modified form – firefighting and cosmonaut training.

▪️ Introduced into service with the Soviet military and Aeroflot in the mid-1970s, the Il-76 platform has had more than two dozen upgrades over its lifetime, from new avionics and carbon fiber wings to glass cockpits and new, more efficient and powerful engines.

▪️ The Il-76 is Russia’s workhorse strategic airlifter. Depending on modification, the plane can haul anywhere from 42 and 60 tons of cargo distances between 3,600 and 4,200 km, and has a cruising speed of 770-800 km per hour. In the nearly 50 years that the plane has been operational, over 960 Il-76s have been built.

▪️ The Il-76 is nearly 47 meters long, almost 15 meters high, and has a wingspan of 50.5 meters. It has a crew of five. The plane includes a 24.5 meter long cargo compartment that’s 3.46 meters wide and 3.4 meters high, for an overall freight capacity of 230 cubic meters – enough to transport up to 140 troops or 125 paratroopers in full gear, or vehicles and other mobile or immobile equipment.

▪️ Along with Russia, the Il-76 is operated by militaries and civilian operators in India, China, Iran, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

▪️ The Il-76 has long been praised for its reliability, versatility and ability to operate in rough conditions, and has an excellent safety record among Russian operators.

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Media outlet "Ukrainska pravda" (Ukrainian truth), which reported with reference to a source about the responsibility of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the crash of the Il-76, deleted the news after reports of prisoners of war on board.

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🇷🇺🤝🇮🇷 Secretary of the Russian Security Council Patrushev held negotiations with his Iranian counterpart in Moscow. They discussed the interaction of special services and the fight against terrorism. The issue of developing a bilateral comprehensive treaty was also touched upon.

This document will give “a powerful impetus to the further expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation,” noted the press service of the Russian Security Council.

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❗️Russian MP Kartapolov: Another Il-76 was flying next with 80 prisoners of war on board. The plane was turned around. "Il" was shot down by three Patriot or Iris-T missiles.

Did Ukraine deploy Western Patriot and IRIS-T systems near the border with Russia?

🔻In December 2023, the Head of the Kharkov administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said that President Volodymr Zelensky had instructed the Ukrainian military to strengthen the region's air defense;

🔻During his annual press conference, Zelensky said that over the winter Ukraine would be covered by additional Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems;

🔻In November 2023, German Ambassador to Ukraine Martin Jäger announced that Ukraine would receive two more IRIS-T air defense systems from Germany by the end of the year for the winter campaign of 2023-2024;

🔻In October, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced second winter military package for Kiev regime, noting that "the heart of the winter package is additional air defense systems Patriot and IRIS-T. This air defense package alone is worth around one billion euros."

⁉️If it turns out that Ukraine killed its own prisoners of war with Western-mande missiles,
who should bear responsibility?

⚡️All those on board of the downed Il-76 were killed, Belgorod governor Gladkov said.

🇷🇺🇹🇩 Russian President Vladimir holds talks with the transitional President of the Republic of Chad Mahamat Idriss Deby in Moscow.

The two leaders are expected to discuss the development prospects of Russian-Chadian relations, as well as issues on the regional and international agenda.

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders. The Chadian head of state had planned to come to the Russia-Africa summit held in St. Petersburg last summer, but in the end the trip did not take place.

Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

❗️ The Il-76 in the Belgorod region was shot down by the Ukrainian military with three missiles, Head of the State Duma’s Defense Committee Andrey Kartapolov said.

According to his information, another plane with 80 prisoners on board was flying behind the crashed Il-76; it turned around.

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❗️ Chadian president during talks in Moscow expresses condolences to Putin over IL-76 crash

What is known so far about the IL-76 crash in Belgorod region of Russia:

▪️ The Il-76 crashed at about 11:00 Moscow time on a scheduled flight. On board were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were being transported for exchange, as well as six crew members and three personnel accompanying the prisoners.

▪️ The plane crashed 5-6 kilometers from the village of Yablonovo, Korochansky district.

▪️ Residents of the Belgorod village of Yablonovo said that they heard two explosions with an interval of about a minute.

▪️ The causes of the disaster have not yet been officially announced.

▪️ Ambulance crews, firefighters and police officers have been sent to the crash site. Investigators and rescuers are also working there. The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, visited the scene.

▪️ A Russian Aerospace Forces commission flew to the region to determine the causes of the disaster.

▪️All those on board the downed Il-76 were killed, Belgorod governor Gladkov said.

▪️ Dmitry Peskov said that he could not yet comment on the reports of the IL-76 crash: “I can’t say, this is quite new, fresh information, now we will deal with it.”

▪️ State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin proposed preparing an address to the US Congress and Bundestag in connection with what happened.

Il-76 crew showed tremendous heroism during doomed Russian plane’s final moments

“I must mention the heroic actions of the plane’s commander, who was able to swerve the already burning Il-76 away from the village of Yablonovo,” Andrei Koshkin, a retired Russian colonel and expert with the Association of Military-Political Scientists, told Sputnik.

“The plane’s destruction occurred in a field. The heroism on the part of the crew of the military transport aircraft is obvious. Not only did they see and feel that their plane was falling apart – according to eyewitnesses it was falling apart in the air, but at that moment they were able to reduce the number of victims. The courage and professionalism of our crew is worthy of high praise,” Koshkin said.

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❗The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that an exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine was being prepared today

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Il-76 ‘provocation’ could be result of chaos inside Ukraine’s military and political establishment

“It’s not very difficult to attack a military transport plane. Moreover, the motive is clearly a provocation. Moreover, this is a provocation within both Ukraine’s Armed Forces and within the Ukrainian political establishment,” Association of Military-Political Scientists expert Andrei Koshkin told Sputnik.

The observer is convinced that given the Il-76’s onboard complement of Ukrainian PoWs, Kiev was obviously aware of its route and flight details. Shortly after the incident, Ukrainian media reported that the country’s air defenses had shot down the Russian plane, deleting the reports after it was revealed that Ukrainian PoWs were onboard.

“Accordingly, if we’re talking about missiles purportedly launched from Kharkov region to hit this aircraft – that is, from about 130 km away, both the Patriot and IRIS-T air defense system, and even the Strela MANPADS, could have attacked it, if a sabotage and reconnaissance group [operating inside Belgorod region, ed.] was tapped to do so.”

“If it turns out that this provocation was organized by the decision of some forces inside Ukraine seeking to complicate the general situation or internal disputes between the political establishment and the military leadership of the country, we will see to what extent this provocation will be used in this confrontation,” Koshkin said.

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⚡️The Russian Ministry of Defense called the crash of an Il-76 in the Belgorod region a terrorist attack by the Kiev regime