Ukrainian leader Volodoymr Zelensky has condemned Russia as the warring sides swap accusations about who was responsible for the downing of a transport plane carrying prisoners of war.
The Russian Ilyushin Il-76 crashed on January 24 in the city of Belgogrod near the Ukrainian border. Russia is claiming that the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war when it was reportedly shot down.
Without providing evidence Russia has accused Ukraine of killing its PoWs and is calling for an international inquiry.
Ukrainian military sources boasted of shooting down the Russian military aircraft using S-300 air defence missiles but later rowed back on the claim.
Shortly before the crash, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel that a “missile alert” had been triggered in the region.
President Zelensky said Ukraine would push for an international investigation of what happened, saying: “It is necessary to establish all the facts, as much as possible, considering that the plane crash occurred on Russian territory — beyond our control.”
He added: “It’s obvious Russians are playing with lives of Ukrainian PoWs, with feelings of their relatives and emotions of our society.”
At a news conference at the United Nations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for an emergency meeting later Wednesday of the UN Security Council, saying he had “no concern” about the international community believing Moscow’s allegations.
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that it was looking into the crash, but didn’t immediately provide any information. Instead, it cautioned against sharing “unverified information.”
In a statement on Telegram, they said: “We emphasize that the enemy is actively conducting information special operations against Ukraine aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian society.”
Video of the crash on social media from the Belgorod border region of Russia showed a plane falling from the sky in a snowy, rural area, and a huge ball of fire erupting where it hit the ground.
