MOSCOW, January 30The father of the crew member of the downed Il-76, on-board technician Sergei Zhitenev, who died near Belgorod, Nikolai Zhitenev, said that his son sent his wife a birthday present on the eve of the flight.
“Seryozha was a well-mannered, purposeful, friendly guy. Almost the entire village knew him. He graduated from school, then college, went into the army. He returned and got a job in Orenburg. He graduated from Orenburg State University, aerospace department with honors. Sergey often flew, they spoke well of him, there was nothing bad about my son, there never was. He died a hero, we will bury him in his native village of Saraktash,” said Nikolai Zhitenev.
He also said that he read the news about the downed military transport Il-76 on the Internet. “I read that the plane crashed. We started dialing Seryozha’s phone – he didn’t answer, but there were beeps. Then someone, apparently, took the phone and immediately turned it off. I really hope that those responsible for the death of the Il-76 will be punished,” the interlocutor added agencies. He noted that a whole stream of village residents came to their house with words of condolences.
“On the eve of that fateful flight, January 20, Sergei congratulated his wife Anastasia on her birthday. He gave a gorgeous gift remotely, but he himself was on a mission far from Orenburg, where his wife and son Yaroslav live. If they trust us, we will raise our grandson to be just as friendly, an intelligent, sympathetic person, like his father and my son, Sergei Zhitenev,” said Nikolai Zhitenev.
According to him, his son’s body has not yet been brought. “Apparently, there are circumstances for that. We understand. We were offered to bury Sergei in Moscow, then they offered it in Orenburg. But my decision is irrevocable. He will be buried in Saraktash, where he was born and raised, where he is known and will always be remembered. My deceased son – a real hero,” concluded Nikolai Zhitenev.
On January 24, the Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down a Russian Il-76 military transport plane over the Belgorod region, in which 65 Ukrainian prisoners were being transported for exchange. All of them, as well as three accompanying officers of the Russian Armed Forces and six crew members died.
According to President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian intelligence knew that there were Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war on board the Il-76, and nevertheless struck – either through negligence or on purpose, “but in any case it is a crime.” Judging by the evidence, an air defense system made in France or the USA was operating.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the crash of the Il-76 “raises a big question about the possibilities of at least some kind of agreement” with Kiev. Ukrainian media first wrote that the Il-76 was shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but then deleted this data from their websites. Later, Ukraine indirectly admitted that it had shot down this plane – the Main Intelligence Directorate complained that Russia allegedly did not notify about the flight of the plane.
Officially, Kyiv speaks of the need for an international investigation; unofficially, the local media has launched a thesis that the Il-76 was carrying missiles for the S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that an international investigation is “definitely necessary” if it focuses on the crimes of the Kiev regime.
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