Both black boxes from downed Il-76 plane recovered, to arrive Friday in Moscow for probe

MOSCOW- Two black boxes have been recovered from the wreckage of the Russian Il-76 military transport plane that was downed by Ukrainian forces in the Belgorod Region on Wednesday, and the devices will be delivered to a special Russian Defense Ministry laboratory in Moscow for decoding on Friday, an emergency services official told TASS.

“According to preliminary data, both flight recorders are intact enough to be decoded. On Friday, they will arrive [in Moscow] on a special flight for delivery to a Defense Ministry lab for decoding,” the official said.

On January 24, the Ukrainian armed forces shot down a Russian Il-76 military transport plane over the borderline region of Belgorod that was carrying captured Ukrainian troops selected to be included in a prisoner exchange. There were 74 people on board, including 65 Ukrainian military personnel, all of whom were killed. The Russian Defense Ministry called what happened a terrorist act and stressed that Kiev knew about the transportation of prisoners for the exchange, which was to take place at the Kolotilovka checkpoint, and purposely attacked the plane in order to accuse Moscow of destroying Ukrainian military personnel.

Source: Tass