Strikes Against Syria and Iraq Prove US War on Terror is a Sham - World reacts to the US attack

©Photo : Handout, Popular Mobilization Forces Media Office

Russia called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday in the wake of what Moscow characterized as a “new blatant act” of US “aggression against sovereign states.”

Dozens of people in Syria and Iraq were killed Saturday morning after the United States fired ‘precision munitions’ into the two countries against 85 targets ranging from command and control and intelligence centers to logistics bases used by anti-ISIS militias. This response from a trio of experts about the strikes' implications for the region.

The strikes, carried out against what the Pentagon characterized as Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force units and “affiliated militia” forces in Syria and Iraq, came after a months-long regional escalation of militia attacks against illegal US bases in Syria and outposts in Iraq, in response to Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. The Pentagon warned of potential strikes against targets inside Iraq and Syria last week after a militia drone attack against Tower 22, a US military outpost in Jordan just across the border from an illegal US base in southern Syria, which killed three American troops and injured 47 others.

Local media estimated that at least 23 people were killed in Syria and 16 in Iraq in Saturday’s attacks, with Damascus and Baghdad blasting Washington for its flagrant violation of the two countries’ sovereignty. Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it was “not surprised” to see American forces attack targets in the country’s east, “where our forces are fighting against the remnants of the ISIS terrorist organization, while the United States is working to revive ISIS terrorist activity.”

Syria’s Ministry of Culture slammed Washington’s aggression as a blatant violation of the Hague Convention, noting that the US strikes included an attack which hit the Citadel of al-Rahba, a regional ancient architectural marvel whose history goes back to the 9th century AD.

Along with the IRGC, Saturday’s strikes targeted the Popular Mobilization Forces, a militia coalition officially affiliated with the Iraqi government which played a key role in defeating ISIS in fierce battles between 2014 and 2017.

Sham War on Terror

Pointing to the PMF’s history of anti-terrorist operations, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen said that the US military’s strikes are further proof that Washington’s operations in the Middle East are “not really against ISIS.”

“They say they are, but they’re really not. If you look at them, they’ve supported ISIS indirectly. They’ve protected them. Al-Qaeda* as well. They can’t tell the American public that, but look at the weapons they’re using, the extremist groups, look at the conflict in Syria for many years,” the veteran officer said.

“Look at the Mujahideen in Afghanistan as well,” Rasmussen recalled, referring to the militia and terrorist group used by the CIA as a proxy against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

“We’ve kind of nurtured extreme groups for years. And actually, you can even look at western Ukraine – the ultra-right neo-fascist groups there, Banderites essentially. We’ve nurtured them since after World War II. Many different classified CIA projects helped that. I think we use ISIS and al-Qaida to help maintain instability in the region and our potential influence or justification for us to have a presence there to ‘provide stability’. But in actuality, it just doesn't provide stability.

And probably the key source of the instability there is our presence, our illegal presence in Syria and Iraq and the often, frequent escapades of Israel bombing adjacent countries as well as the treatment that they've put the Palestinians through over decades,” he stressed.

Saturday’s strikes signal a “very dangerous escalation” in the region, according to Rasmussen, who pointed out that it could easily grow into a crisis involving Iran, Russia and China.

“Depending on how long they’re going to do the strikes, how often, and how many facilities they're going to bomb – it could escalate. The world is not what it was in 1991 and 2001. It's different now. These militia groups are more coordinated, they're better armed, they're better trained. Iran is not the country it used to be. They've got hypersonic missiles...They’re trying to develop trade and economic growth in this region. This could escalate really bad, and I'm hoping there are some adults in the room in Washington, DC, but I don't think so. I haven't seen any so far,” Rasmussen lamented.

The observer also pointed out the hypocrisy of US efforts to label the PMF as “Iranian-backed militias,” saying that Washington is in no position to accuse others of being foreign-backed.

“These militias are pretty much independent. Okay, they get weapons and things from Iran. Yeah, alright, well who has weapons from the United States? I mean, look around the world. And ISIS has got our weapons and stuff, and Al-Qaeda. We're providing weapons to Israel. So does that mean we're - well, actually, we pretty much are participating in the genocide in Gaza,” Rasmussen summed up.

Iran

“The attacks are a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria, international law, and a clear violation of the United Nations Charter,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.

“In addition to an all-out support of the US for four months of relentless and barbaric attacks by the Zionist regime against the residents of Gaza and the West Bank, and military attacks on Yemen and violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, last night’s attacks on Syria and Iraq were another adventurous action and another strategic error by the US government which will have no result but to intensify tensions and instability in the region.”

“The attacks merely support the goals of the Zionist regime. Such attacks increasingly involve the US government in the region and overshadow the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza.”

Russia

Russia has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council following the US strikes on Iraq and Syria, and it is expected to be held on February 5 at 4:00 p.m. New York Time, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

"We have just asked to convene an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council due the threats to peace and security sparked by the US strikes on Iraq and Syria. This month’s Guyanese presidency is planning to schedule it for February 5 at 4:00 p.m. New York Time," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia strongly condemns "the new blatant act of US-UK aggression against sovereign countries." The diplomat said, "Obviously, the airstrikes are deliberately aimed at fueling the conflict further."

The US has launched a string of strikes on pro-Iranian militias deployed in certain border areas of Iraq and Syria. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the airstrikes, which hit more than 85 targets, targeted the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, elite units of the Iranian armed forces) and related groups.

Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, said earlier that the US Air Force's bombing of Iraq's border areas is a violation of the country's sovereignty and will have unintended consequences for Iraq's security and stability throughout the region.

Iraq

“This aggressive strike will put security in Iraq and the region on the brink of the abyss,” the Iraqi government said in a statement, and denied Washington’s claims of coordinating the air raids with Baghdad as “false” and “aimed at misleading international public opinion”.

The presence of the US-led military coalition in the region “has become a reason for threatening security and stability in Iraq and a justification for involving Iraq in regional and international conflicts”, read the statement from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office.

“Iraq reiterates its refusal to let the country be an arena for settling scores,” said government spokesperson Basim Alwadi.

Yahya Rasool, the Iraqi military spokesperson, said the attacks “constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, and pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences”.

“The outcomes will have severe implications on the security and stability in Iraq and the surrounding region,” Rasool added.

Syria

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the strikes served to “inflame the conflict in the Middle East in an extremely dangerous way” and added to Washington’s “record of violations against Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its people, proving once again that it is the main source of global instability”.

The military said, “The area targeted by the American attacks in eastern Syria is the same area where the Syrian Arab Army is fighting the remnants of the Daesh [ISIL] terrorist organisation, and this confirms that the United States and its military forces are involved and allied with this organisation, and are working to revive it as a field arm for it both in Syria and Iraq by all dirty means.”

“The aggression of the American occupation forces at dawn today has no justification other than an attempt to weaken the ability of the Syrian Arab

Army and its allies in the field of fighting terrorism, but the army.”

Hamas

“We condemn in the strongest terms the American aggression against Iraq and Syria, and consider it a dangerous escalation, an infringement on the sovereignty of the two Arab countries, and a threat to their security and the stability of the region, in service of the occupation’s expansionist agenda and covering up its horrific crimes against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” read a statement from Hamas.

“The administration of US President Biden bears responsibility for the consequences of this brutal aggression against both Iraq and Syria, which adds fuel to the fire, and we affirm that the region will not witness stability or peace except by stopping the Zionist aggression, crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing against our people in the Gaza Strip, and ending the Zionist-Nazi occupation.”

Hezbollah

“Hezbollah strongly condemns the blatant American aggression against Iraq and Syria. What the United States of America has done is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the two countries, an attack on their security and territorial integrity, and a shameless violation of all international and humanitarian laws,” the Lebanese group said in a statement.

Houthi

The Houthis will "meet escalation with escalation" after the U.S. and U.K. airstrikes on Yemen, according to Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi’s Ansar Allah political bureau.

"Our military operations against the Zionist entity will continue until the aggression against Gaza stops, no matter what sacrifices it costs us," Al-Bukhaiti said on X. "We will meet escalation with escalation, and victory comes only from God."

Clear Attempt to Reassert US Dominance

Saturday’s aggression constituted a “demonstration strike,” with its intention being an attempt by the US “to assert military and security dominance in the Middle East,” Dr. Imad Salamey said, an associate professor of political science and international affairs at the Lebanese American University, and he adding that unfortunately, he doesn’t expect the crisis to deescalate anytime soon as US forces in the region hunker down.

“While the Iraqi parliament is calling for a US withdrawal, it's premature to expect immediate action,” the academic said. “In fact, considering the current developments, a US military buildup might be more likely in the near future rather than an imminent withdrawal. The situation remains unstable and evolving while the Biden administration needs to demonstrate ‘victory’ rather than defeat as the presidential elections draw near.”

Dr. Muhannad Alazzeh, a former Jordanian Senator and international legal and human rights commissioner, agrees, saying the “whole context” of the attacks relates to domestic considerations in Washington, specifically to Biden seeking “to avoid the Republicans’ rage since they accuse him of ‘being weak and hesitant’ toward Iran in particular when they compare him to his predecessor.”

US Has to Understand Concept of Blowback

The Biden administration’s Middle East policy, and attempts to pretend that militia attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria, and by the Houthis in the Red Sea, have ‘nothing to do with Israel’s war against Gaza’, reflect “either arrogance or ignorance” on Washington’s part, Dr. Alazzeh said.

“America shall understand and make Israel understand as well that they might be able to set fire In Gaza, West bank or any country individually but they absolutely can’t prevent its spreading to other countries, and this is exactly what’s happening now gradually,” Dr. Alazzeh stressed.

Russian military reports gains against Ukrainian troops

©Sputnik/Yevgeny Biyatov

The Russian military is making advances at multiple locations along the frontline in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), according to a daily press briefing of the country’s Defense Ministry released on Friday.

Over the past 24 hours, Moscow’s troops have inflicted heavy casualties on the adversary, amounting to up to 795 servicemen. The DPR saw intense combat at multiple locations, with the troops “taking up better positions” near the village of Klescheevka, located to the southwest of the town of Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut). The small village has been experiencing heavy combat for months, following the liberation of Artyomovsk early last year.

The Russian military reported destroying multiple pieces of military hardware, including assorted armored and soft vehicles, as well as several artillery pieces, including two US-made M777 towed howitzers. The military said it conducted multiple long-range attacks on Ukrainian ammunition stockpiles, troops, and hardware assembly points in more than 100 locations.

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported making advances and “taking up better positions,” including in the vicinity of the DPR town of Liman. Liberated early into the ongoing conflict, the town fell back under Ukrainian control in late 2022.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu revealed fresh estimates on the casualties sustained by Ukrainian forces over the past month. All in all, Ukraine lost more than 23,000 troops in January, the minister claimed during a meeting with top Russian military commanders on Friday, stating his forces now “hold the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact.”

Over the past month, the Ukrainian military has also suffered heavy equipment losses, with over 3,000 heavy hardware pieces destroyed. The losses include multiple US-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, HIMARS multiple rocket launcher systems, German-supplied Leopard main battle tanks and other hardware provided to Kiev by its Western sponsors, according to Shoigu.

Watch Destruction of Ukrainian Tank by Krasnopol Precision-Guided Artillery Munition

The 2K25 Krasnopol guided projectile is a weapon effectively used by the Russian Army in the special military operation. It is designed to engage a wide range of targets, including enemy troops, fortifications, and armored vehicles.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage showing the destruction of a Ukrainian tank by a 2K25 Krasnopol precision-guided artillery munition in the village of Staromayorskoye, Donetsk People's Republic.

The target was identified by an unmanned aerial vehicle and destroyed by artillerymen of Battlegroup Vostok, according to the ministry.

Russia's Newest Arms Clearly Better Than NATO's - Putin

Russia’s newest arms are clearly better compared to the ones of NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

"Of course, if we compare NATO’s modern arms to the arms of the latest Soviet period, they [Soviet ones] rank below in some qualities, by the way, not always. But if we are talking about our new arms, they are clearly better. It is an obvious fact," Putin said at the Everything for the Victory forum in the Russian city of Tula.

Russia’s defense industry has been showing good pace and quality, the president added.

Russia has exported military equipment worth billions of dollars last year, Putin said.

“Last year, we supplied a decent amount of our military equipment to world markets — worth billions of dollars,” Putin said at the Everything for the Victory forum in the Russian city of Tula.

Putin mentioned that the Pantsir missile systems are especially popular among foreign buyers.

How Russia Transformed T-80 Tank Into Armored Multiple Rocket Launcher

The Ukrainian crisis has demonstrated that far from being a holdover of 20th century warfare, artillery remains an indispensable ‘God of War’ in 21st century conflicts. Russia has a vast array of artillery types in its arsenal, with its latest entry consisting of a T-80 tank chassis fitted with a naval rocket launcher. Here’s what we know about it.

Footage has appeared online showing an RBU-6000 naval rocket launcher mated to a T-80B tank chassis being fired in a steppe somewhere on the frontline in the special operation zone.

Russia’s military and arms industry have not commented on the curious, custom-built multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), with RBU-6000 launchers attached to ground vehicles first spotted in the fall of 2023, and fitted aboard MT-LB tracked armored fighting vehicles, as well as Ural and Kamaz trucks.

The decision to attach the RBU-6000 to a T-80 chassis seems to have been the next logical step, given that tank armor will provide its crew with protection against everything from enemy small arms fire to artillery shrapnel, nullifying a key vulnerability of more traditional MLRS launchers and allowing it to be placed closer to dangerous frontline areas.

What is the RBU-6000?

Introduced with the Soviet Navy back in the early 1960s, the RBU-6000 is 3.5 ton, 213 mm caliber anti-submarine and anti-torpedo rocket launcher with twelve radially placed barrels typically attached to surface warships. Also known as the ‘Smerch-2’ (lit. ‘Tornado-2’ or ‘Whirlwind-2’), the system fires RGB-60 rockets - which weigh 113.5 kg apiece, come with a 23 kg high-explosive munition, have a range of up to 6 km, and function at depths up to 500 meters.

A deep modernization of the RBU-6000 known as the RPK-8 was developed in the 1980s and adopted into service in late 1991, featuring new rockets with underwater homing capability and a functional operational depth of up to 1,000 meters. The newer systems were equipped with 19.5 kg shaped charges designed to attach themselves to enemy subs and tear open their hulls. The latest variants of the installation come with a remotely directed fire control system.

Russian warships taking part in the special military operation have used both the RBU-6000 and the RPK-8 extensively to target Ukrainian naval drones attacking ships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and their home ports.

What are the Characteristics of the T-80’s Chassis?

First introduced into service in the mid-1970s, the T-80 tank chassis features a powerful, 1,100 horsepower gas turbine engine, presumably giving the customized RBU-6000-equipped MLRS module enough pep to maneuver into the line of fire, shoot its rockets and rapidly fall back to avoid enemy counter fire in a strategy known as ‘shoot and scoot’.

At the start of the special military operation in 2022, Russia had thousands of mothballed T-80s in various states at warehouses scattered across the country, with arms makers gradually taking them out, dusting them off, and modernizing them, and sending them to the front. The T-80B variant seen in the video above was introduced in 1980, and typically comes equipped with improved composite armor, a laser rangefinder, improved fire control system and night sight. It’s not clear which of these improvements are featured in the new Smerch-2-equipped T-80-based MLRS.

Russia’s propensity for using tank chassis for purposes other than a modern main battle tank is well-known, with Soviet and Russian engineers mating them to heavy engineering and mine-clearing equipment, attaching them to heavy guns to create mobile howitzers, using them to propel the deadly TOS-2 thermobaric heavy flamethrower system, and even attaching them to the unique 1K17 Szhatie (lit. ‘Compression’) – a Soviet laser combat platform designed to disable enemy optical-electronic equipment.

What are the Ground-based Smerch-2's Capabilities?

The T-80 chassis-fitted ground-based Smerch-2 launcher appears to be the brainchild of frontline military engineers, known to create a wide array of do-it-yourself-style arms using whatever tools, equipment and spare parts happen to be available. The system's appearance in a variety of form factors (attached to a T-80 chassis, MT-LB APCs and trucks) appears to confirm its operational effectiveness. No official details on the system's capabilities have been publicized, but if it's anything like its naval variant, the ground-based Smerch-2 would have a range up to 6 km, while the T-80 chassis mean an operational range of up to 335 km without refueling.

Watch Russian D-30 Howitzers Wreck Ukrainian Positions Near Artemovsk

Russian troops belonging to the Airborne Forces demolished Ukrainian tactical positions with high precision strikes in the special operation zone.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released footage showing Russian paratroopers deploy highly effective D-30 howitzers to smash enemy positions to the northwest of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

During the combat mission, Russian airborne scouts and artillerymen bombarded the identified target with 122 mm shells. As a result, they neutralized almost an entire Ukrainian unit, and demolished two mortar crews stationed in firing positions.

Watch Russian UAVs Destroy Ukrainian Firing Points

Since the beginning of the special military operation, Russian forces have been using drones, also known as UAVs.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of attack drone operators destroying several firing positions and a Ukrainian military vehicle. The footage was taken near the settlement of Spornoye in the Donetsk People's Republic.

The use of drones reduces the risk of casualties for Russian personnel, as they can be operated remotely. Overall, the integration of attack drones into the Russian military arsenal represents a significant development in modern warfare.

Watch Russian Drones Eliminate Ukrainian Forces

The Russian Armed Forces have integrated drones into their military strategy to enhance their operational capabilities on the battlefield. Russian drones come in various sizes and configurations, ranging from small handheld devices to large unmanned aerial systems capable of carrying heavy payloads and operating at long ranges.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of UAVs and FPV drone operators of Battlegroup Vostok destroying Ukrainian military personnel and armored vehicles in the southern Donetsk area.

Drones have become an indispensable part of Russia’s military's arsenal, providing it with a significant tactical advantage in modern warfare scenarios where speed, accuracy, and stealth are critical factors for success.

Airlangga Hartarto dorong hilirisasi manufaktur-hortikultura Sulsel

Menteri Koordinator (Menko) Perekonomian Airlangga Hartarto bertemu Pj Gubernur Sulsel Bahtiar Baharuddin di Rujab Gubernur Sulsel, meninjau perkembangan perekonomian di Sulawesi Selatan (Sulsel) pada hari Kamis, 01/02/0224.

Angka pertumbuhan di regional pulau Sulawesi disebutnya cukup baik.

Terlebih di Sulsel dan Sultra disebutnya memiliki andil besar dalam perkembangan perekonomian.

"Alhamdulillah malam ini silaturrahmi pak gubernur dan pj bupati tentu pembahasan perkembangan ekonomi. khusus regional sulawesi baik," jelas Airlangga Hartarto.

"Angkanya di atas nasional, ini kontribusi Sulsel dan Sultra terkait hilirisasi," lanjutnya.

Dalam pandangannya, Sulsel masih bisa mengembangkan beberapa sektor.

Terutama memanfaatkan hasil sumber daya alam bernilai ekonomi.

"Sulsel didorong mengembangkan sektor manufaktur, hortikultura, agriculture," ujar Airlangga Hartarto.

Dirinya pun mengapresiasi peran Pj Gubernur Sulsel Bahtiar dalam mendorong perdagangan internasional.

Sulsel diharap bisa menjadi hub perekonomian di lintang utara Indonesia.

"(Saya) mengapresiasi inisiasi pak gubernur ke Shanghai dan Hongkong. Diharapkan sulsel bisa jadi hub ke utara," lanjutnya.

Sulsel memang kini telah membuka jalur perdagangan direct flight Hongkong.

Sementara ke Shanghai telah dibuka ekspor langsung via laut.

Guna Menunjang peningkatan perekonomian tersebut, Kredit Usaha Rakyat (KUR) turut jadi perhatian.

Akses masyarakat terhadap KUR disebutnya harus ditingkatkan.

"Tentu ada permintaan KUR bisa ditingkatkan. Alokasi KUR itu tidak ada batas, kalau biasa Rp 15 bisa dinaikkan 30 T bahkan bisa dinaikkan lagi supaya masyarakat bisa memanfaatkan KUR dengan bunga rendah," tutupnya.

Russia and China unite over US bioweapons

FILE PHOTO ©Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Russian and Chinese governments have held an inter-agency meeting in Beijing to share their assessments of biological security concerns, and address the security threats posed by bioweapons – particularly those allegedly being developed by the US military.

Moscow and Beijing agreed to work together in seeking to strengthen the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BTWC), a treaty signed by 109 nations in 1972 to block development of such unconventional armaments, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday in a statement.

“The meeting confirmed the unity of approaches of Russia and China to the biological security,” the ministry said, adding that “particular attention in this context was paid to the military and biological activities of the United States.”

“The need for further close coordination and constructive interaction both in bilateral format and at relevant multilateral fora, primarily within the framework of the BTWC, the UN and the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) was noted,” the ministry added.

Russia, China and 14 other nations issued a joint statement in December calling for strengthening the UN’s policing of biological and chemical weapons. “Convinced that such use would be repugnant to the conscience of humankind, we are determined to condemn any use of toxic chemicals, biological agents or toxins as weapons by anyone, anywhere at any time, and to hold accountable those responsible for any such use,” the statement declared.

Moscow and Beijing have repeatedly pressed for greater transparency from the US and its allies regarding their military biological activities. Wednesday’s talks between the two governments paid “particular attention” to the Pentagon’s bioweapons activities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian embassy in Washington accused the US last year of “gross violations” of the BTWC, including illegal bioweapons research in labs scattered around the world. Washington aims to use dangerous biological agents and artificial epidemics to advance its interests, the embassy claimed.

The US and its NATO allies vetoed a UN resolution last year calling for an investigation of Washington’s biolabs in Ukraine. Some “unfinished” bioweapons projects were moved to Africa amid the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said in November. The ministry accused Washington of exploiting Nigerian citizens as a “free clinical resource,” conducting illegal research under the pretense of public health.

This week’s meetings in Beijing also included talks on Thursday over security threats in outer space. “The sides exchanged their assessments of the current situation in this area,” the foreign ministry said. “They stressed the need to continue close cooperation and active joint efforts to prevent an arms race in outer space and its weaponization.”

Russian Investigators Find Fragments of MIM-104A Patriot Missiles at Il-76 Crash Site

©Sputnik/Russian Investigative Committee/Go to the mediabank

President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that Russian investigators had determined that Ukraine used a US-made Patriot missile system to bring down an Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane full of Ukrainian prisoners of war on January 24.

The Russian Investigative Committee has identified missile fragments found near the Il-76 crash site in Belgorod region.

"Based on the conclusion of examinations carried out during the investigation, the fragments seized from the scene of the incident, based on their design features, geometric characteristics and available markings, are structural elements of the MIM-104A anti-aircraft guided missile of the US Patriot complex, developed by the Raytheon and Hughes corporations, and produced by Raytheon," the Investigative Committee said in a summary of findings released Thursday.

"It has been established that on January 24, 2024, a Russian Aerospace Force Il-76 military transport aircraft was attacked using an anti-aircraft missile system firing two missiles operated by personnel from the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the settlement of Liptsy in Kharkov region, Ukraine," investigators said.

In the course of the investigation at the scene of the incident, in an area about 1.8 km northeast and 4.8 km southeast of the presumed attack site, 116 fragments of two missiles with English-language inscriptions were found. Ion mobility spectrometry, gas chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography analyses were used to find traces of RDX (hexogen) with impurities of up to 10 percent, as well as HMX (octogen) on the fragments. Such chemical compounds are "typical for foreign-made explosives," according to investigators.

English-language markings included a series of coded part numbers, "Raytheon," and text marked "CONFIDENTIAL classified by PATRIOT SECURITY CLASSIFICATION GUIDE DATED: 9/22/83 ADDENDA DATED 11/28/83 8/8/84 CONTRACT NO/DAAH01-86C-A018."

All Passengers and Crew Aboard Doomed Plane Killed

The Investigative Committee was also able to confirm Thursday that all 74 people onboard the downed Il-76 plane were killed, identifying the victims after recovering over 670 bodies and body parts, as well as partially preserved identification documents. The committee said it had access to the 'genetic profiles' of all of the Ukrainian PoWs onboard to help make the determination that they had been killed.

The dead included six Russian crew members, three Russian military police officers and 65 Ukrainian military personnel.

US Complicit in Il-76 Downing, Moscow Says

Commenting on the findings, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the Biden administration of turning ordinary American citizens into accomplices of the Kiev regime in the Il-76's downing.

"Americans should know where their money is going. Biden and his team have made Americans complicit in a bloody tragedy," Zakharova wrote in a social media post.

Separately on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov complained that Washington's European allies don't seem all that interested in President Putin's proposal for an international investigation into the Il-76 shootdown.

"Yesterday, the president openly, publicly stated that we are ready for an international investigation into this horrific act and are interested in it. Now we are already hearing European voices asking us to give them some documents - that they won't consider anything without documents," Peskov said. "None of them will be interested in conducting an investigation to end up accidentally finding themselves in it. The position of the collective West, which is a direct participant in this armed conflict, is also obvious," he said.

On the one week anniversary of the January 24 incident, the Russian president admitted that he still doesn't fully "understand" why Ukraine decided to shoot down a Russian plane full of Ukrainian PoWs on its way to a prisoner exchange.

"You asked why they did it. I don't know. I don't understand it," Putin said, suggesting it may have been done to provoke Russia into retaliatory attacks on civilian targets inside Ukraine, or to "divert the attention of their own population and sponsors from the failures of the so-called counteroffensive."

Ukrainian media and officials made a series of contradictory statements regarding the incident, initially reporting that a Russian plane had been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, then scrubbing this information. Ukraine's military intelligence confirmed that a prisoner exchange was scheduled for January 24 and subsequently canceled.

Ukraine's General Staff claimed the plane was carrying weapons and that the Ukrainian military would "continue to take measures to destroy the missile delivery means" used by Russia "including in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction."

President Zelensky called for an international investigation and accused Moscow of "playing with the lives" of Ukrainian PoWs. A week on, as evidence of Kiev's culpability mounts, Ukrainian and Western officials and media have largely gone silent.