Relatives of the deceased Il-76 crew members were awarded the Order of Courage – Kommersant

The families of the crew members who died in the Il-76 crash in the Belgorod region received the Order of Courage in Orenburg. The awards were presented by the commander of Russian military transport aviation, Lieutenant General Vladimir Benediktov.

In Orenburg today, February 8, a farewell ceremony is being held for Il-76 crew commander Stanislav Bezzubkin, assistant commander Vladislav Chmirev, navigator Alexei Vysokin, flight engineer Andrei Piluev, on-board aviation technician Sergei Zhitenev and senior air radio operator Igor Sablinsky.

“The decree of the President of the Russian Federation on awarding state awards – for courage, bravery and dedication shown in the performance of military duty, the Order of Courage was awarded posthumously,” announced Vice-Governor Dmitry Kulagin at the funeral event (quoted from the publication “Ural56”).

The funeral event took place at the Orenburg Sports and Cultural Complex. Among others, the current governor Denis Pasler, as well as former heads of the Orenburg region Alexey Chernyshev and Yuri Berg took part in it. After the presentation of the awards, those gathered took to the street for a funeral procession.

Il-76 crashed on January 24 in the Belgorod region. According to Russian authorities, 65 Ukrainian prisoners, 6 crew members and 3 accompanying persons were killed. The criminal case is being investigated under Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Terrorist act”). Russian President Vladimir Putin saidthat Ukrainian intelligence knew that the Il-76 was transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia and Ukraine have announced their intention to request an international investigation. The Ukrainian side neither confirmed nor denied the strike on the plane.

About the investigation of the crash – in the Kommersant publication “Patriot was blamed for the attack”.

Leonid Uvarchev