On Wednesday, Russia accused Ukraine of killing every person on board a military transport aircraft that was carrying dozens of inmates from Ukraine on their way to a prisoner swap.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international probe as Kyiv revealed that a prisoner swap was scheduled to take place on Wednesday. However, the city announced many hours after the crash that it still lacked trustworthy information on the passengers.
Videos on social media showed a large plane in Russia’s western Belgorod region falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball.
Russia’s defence ministry said the IL-76 plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian soldiers captured in Russia’s offensive, as well as six crew and three escorts.
It called the event a “terrorist act” and asserted that two missiles had been fired at the cargo aircraft by Ukrainian military stationed in the Kharkiv border region.
“We currently do not have reliable or comprehensive information on who was on board the plane or in what number,” Ukraine’s main intelligence agency said in a statement.
Zelensky, in an evening address, did not confirm or deny Moscow’s accusations, but stressed that Russia was “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society.”
“We need to establish all clear facts, as much as possible given that the plane crash occurred on Russian territory — beyond our control,” he said.
