Russia says downed aircraft hit by missile fired from Ukraine

Moscow, Jan 27: Russia's Investigative Committee has said that the Il-76 military aircraft was hit with a missile that was launched from the Kharkov region in Ukraine.

The committee on Friday said that the investigation has established that the anti-aircraft missile system that was used to hit the Il-76 aircraft was located in the Liptsy village of the Kharkov region, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a Telegram post.

It said that documents were found at the crash site of the aircraft in Belgorod, which belong to the Ukrainian military personnel that were killed.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the missile hit the Il-76 aircraft was obviously fired from the territory controlled by the Ukrainian side.

The Ukrainian leaders knew Ukrainian prisoners were on board the plane, said Putin.

A Russian Il-76 transport aircraft with 65 Ukrainian prisoners, six crew members, and three accompanying persons on board crashed in the country's Belgorod region on Wednesday.