Address of the State Duma of the Russian Federation to the Congress of the United States of America

The Members of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation address the members of Congress of the United States of America in connection with the information confirmed by the competent authorities that Ukraine perpetrated a terrorist attack on January 24, 2024, shooting down an IL-76 military transport aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation above the territory of the Russian Federation near the village of Yablonovo, Korochansky District, Belgorod Region, which transported 65 Ukrainian POWs for a pre-arranged prisoner exchange. Six crew members and three escort officers were on board that flight as well. There were no survivors.

The plane was shot down with a missile launched from the US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system by the Ukrainian military from the town of Liptsy, Kharkov Region.

The attack on the aircraft was premeditated murder, as the prisoner swap between the Russian Federation and Ukraine and the itinerary had been agreed upon earlier.

This is not the first time Ukraine has brutally massacred its captive servicemen. Earlier, on July 29, 2022, it used a US-made HIMARS MLRS to launch a cold-blooded attack on a prisoner colony in the village of Yelenovka, Donetsk People’s Republic killing over 50 Ukrainian servicemen and injuring more than 70.

There is no need to enumerate all the instances of the US authorities providing Ukraine with weapons to launch indiscriminate attacks against the civilians, that is, to deliberately kill old people, women and children. The world is aware of these facts.

Support for neo-Nazi ideology and its practical implementation in Ukraine further emboldens the Kiev clique to continue the acts of terror and to escalate the violence, and brings the world closer to a global disaster.

The Members of the State Duma believe that the deliberate silencing of the truth about the victims of the Kiev regime’s criminal acts is a road to nowhere.

You represent the American people, not the corrupt bureaucrats or defence industry lobbyists. We are confident that American taxpayers are not particularly enthusiastic about their money being spent so that Ukraine can continue sending its soldiers to their deaths, and killing its prisoners of war and civilians.

The facts show that a significant portion of the lethal Western weapons supplied to the corrupt Kiev regime ends up in the hands of terrorists and radical extremists around the world through criminal machinations.  

The Members of the State Duma urge the members of the United States Congress to condemn the crimes committed by the terrorist Kiev regime, to stop supporting it, and to help bring to justice those directly responsible for this inhuman terrorist attack.

Speaker of the State Duma of the

Federal Assembly of the

Russian Federation

Vyacheslav Volodin