Russia accused Kiev of shooting down a large military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners to an exchange on Wednesday, following a crash in the Belgorod region that killed all on board.
Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied that the planes collided, but said Russia created a “deliberate threat to the life and safety” of the prisoners by failing to warn Kiev to resolve the airspace conflict before the exchange. Stated.
Ukrainian military intelligence said it did not have “reliable and comprehensive” information about who or what was on board the Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft, which was filmed crashing in a fireball and exploding on Wednesday afternoon. .
The Russian Ministry of Defense immediately accused Ukraine of shooting down the Il-76, claiming that the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six crew members and three Russian soldiers who were to be replaced. According to Russia, all on board were killed.
The Guardian could not immediately verify Russia's claims about who was on board, and the cause of the crash has not yet been confirmed.
In a statement Wednesday night, Ukrainian military intelligence did not directly confirm or deny targeting the Il-76, but it accused Russia of not informing it in advance of aircraft carrying captured Ukrainian servicemen to the exchange. .
The country confirmed the exchange plan and said it had fulfilled its agreement to deliver Russian military personnel to the exchange point and ensure their safety.
“According to the agreement, the Russian side had to ensure the security of our garrison,” Ukraine's military intelligence said in a statement. “The Ukrainian side was not informed about the need to ensure the security of the airspace around the city of Belgorod for a certain period of time, as has repeatedly happened in the past.”
The agency added: “This may indicate deliberate Russian action aimed at posing a threat to the lives and safety of prisoners.”
The Soviet-designed Ilyushin Il-76 is a military transport aircraft designed to airlift troops, cargo, military equipment, and weapons.
Russia quickly accused Ukraine of using Western anti-aircraft weapons to target the aircraft.
Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the plane was “shot down” by Kiev and blamed a Western missile. “They shot their own soldiers in the air. Their own,” Volodin told lawmakers in plenary. “Our pilot was shot down while performing a humanitarian mission.”
Retired general Andrei Kartapolov, a senior member of Russia's parliament, told parliament that the plane was shot down by three missiles. He did not identify the source of the information. Kartapolov added that the investigation would reveal whether the missile was a Patriot or Iris-T supplied by Western countries. He claimed that Russia and Ukraine were scheduled to exchange 192 prisoners each on the Wednesday before the plane crash.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country had convened an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council later on Wednesday to discuss what he called “Ukraine's criminal acts.”
Ukraine's state agency in charge of the prisoner exchange did not confirm the incident, but warned of “enemy propaganda resources regarding the crash.” Later, Ukrainian military intelligence confirmed that the prisoner exchange scheduled for Wednesday did not take place.
Ukraine's Pravda newspaper initially cited sources as saying Kiev's military had shot down the plane, but later retracted the report.
The Ukrainian military then accused the Russian military of using military transport planes to transport missiles into the Belgorod region in recent weeks to carry out cross-border attacks.
“With this in mind, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will continue measures to destroy delivery vehicles and control airspace to eliminate terrorist threats, including in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction,” the statement said.
This month, the two countries announced the largest prisoner exchange since the start of the war, with the return of more than 200 soldiers from both sides in an agreement brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
The Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, is an important transit point for Russia's supply routes. The region has been under heavy shelling and drone attacks for months, including a missile attack on the region's capital in December that killed at least 25 people.
