DISINFO: Ukraine's destruction of the IL-76 aircraft is a neo-Nazi Ukrainian pig fight over fodder
SUMMARY
Ukraine's destruction of the IL-76 military transport aircraft was the result of the internal political struggle of the neo-Nazi elites in Kyiv. It's a pig fight over fodder.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation claim about the crash of IL-76 aircraft, used as an opportunity to once again attempt to portray Ukraine as a Nazi country.
Various explanations for the downing of the IL-76 aircraft are currently being considered, as the actual circumstances still require further investigation and clarification.
What is known so far is that the IL-76 came down in the Korocha district of Russia’s Belgorod Oblast on 24 January 2024. The Russian Ministry of Defence quickly blamed Ukraine for the downing of the plane, claiming that 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) were on board. However, neither the allegations of Ukrainian responsibility nor the claims of Ukrainian prisoners being on the aircraft have been substantiated by facts.
Based on photos and videos from the crash site, there is no evidence that such large number of people were on board the aircraft. Moreover, the list of 65 POWs that were allegedly on board the aircraft, published by Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan, included POWs that had been already released in previous POWs exchanges.
The claim also takes advantage of the downing incident to use an age-old pro-Kremlin narrative about Ukraine being ruled by Nazi elites. The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine has been the cornerstone of Russian disinformation about the country since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests, when it was used to discredit the pro-European popular uprising in Kyiv and, subsequently, the broader pro-Western shift in Ukraine's foreign policy.
Read a more detailed debunk here, as well as our analysis titled "Why does Putin portray himself as the tamer of neo-Nazism".
See similar cases claiming that Ukrainians are the new Nazis, their actions directed by Europe against Russia, Ukraine is ruled by a Nazi junta, Ukrainian army has been attacking civilian areas in Donetsk with artillery for eight years, a Nazi symbol was found on the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of Ukraine and that Zelensky uses the same Nazi symbols as Hitler.