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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for an international investigation into the crash of a Russian military aircraft in the Belgorod border region.
The Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR is currently trying to find out more about the fate of the dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who, according to Moscow, were on board the plane, Zelensky said in his evening address on Wednesday.
He also instructed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to provide foreign partners with all information available to Ukraine.
“Our state will insist on international reconnaissance,” he said. “It is obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society.”

Today, Defense Minister Umerov, Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi, Military Intelligence Head Budanov, and Security Service Head Maliuk delivered their reports regarding the aircraft and prisoner exchange.
It is clear that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian… pic.twitter.com/WZGIoK165r
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 24, 2024

An Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region of western Russia on Wednesday. According to Russian reports, all 74 people on board were killed – including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
However, there is still no independent information on who or what the aircraft was carrying.
Russia ‘sent unit of Ukrainian POWs into battle against own countrymen’
The Russian Defence Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shooting down the plane as it passed over Russia’s Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border.
“All occupants on board have died,” Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Moscow said the Ukrainians were being taken to a planned prisoner exchange.
Ukraine later confirmed following the crash that an exchange of prisoners of war had been planned for Wednesday.
“An exchange of prisoners should have taken place today, but it did not,” the HUR said in the early evening.
Kyiv did not confirm the version from Moscow that the Ukrainian prisoners were on board the crashed Russian plane and are now dead.

Instead, the statement said: “We currently have no reliable and comprehensive information about who exactly and how many were on board the aircraft”.
For its part, Ukraine had honoured all agreements and brought the Russian soldiers to the exchange location on time, the secret service said.
It continued: “According to the agreement, the Russian side had to ensure the safety of our defenders. At the same time, the Ukrainian side was not informed about the need to ensure the security of the airspace in the area around the city of Belgorod in a certain period of time, as was done several times in the past”.
Ukraine, Russia exchange hundreds of POWs in biggest swap of war
The fact that Ukraine was not informed of the exact Russian means of transport this time “could indicate deliberate actions by Russia aimed at jeopardising the lives and safety of prisoners,” the Ukrainian authorities wrote.
Russian state media interpreted the communication as indirect confirmation that the Ukrainians had shot down the aircraft with their own soldiers on board. However, there is no official confirmation of this from Kyiv.
Footage circulating on social media purportedly showed the moment of the crash, with a fireball seen in the distance and then a huge black cloud rising into the sky.

The plane was said to have gone down about 50km northeast of Belgorod city and around 50km from the Ukrainian border.
The Russian Defence Ministry and other officials quickly pointed the finger at Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian leadership was well aware of the planned prisoner exchange and was informed about how the prisoners would be transported,” said Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma’s defence committee in Moscow.
A total of 192 Ukrainians were to be exchanged for 192 Russian prisoners, he said, with to operation to have involved three transport planes. The exchange has now been called off, he said.
Without providing evidence, Kartapolov said that the plane had been shot down by three US or German anti-aircraft missiles.
Ukrainian officials have yet to confirm or deny Russia’s claims about the crash, and there were contradictory reports in the local media.
The news portal Ukrainska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth) cited military sources as saying that the Ukrainian side had confirmed the crash.
According to information from the General Staff cited by the report, the Russian aircraft was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to the front line.
Originally, Ukrainska Pravda had also reported that the Ukrainian military had spoken of the aircraft being shot down. This version was then changed.
The Ukrainian coordination centre for prisoners of war did not comment on the incident. All information is being collected and analysed, the centre said on Telegram.
Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for almost two years: Wednesday marked the 700th day of war.


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Ukraine war

Kyiv demands international inquiry into Ukrainian POW plane crash

Flames rising from the site where a plane crashed near Yablonovo, Belgorod region, on Wednesday. Photo: UGC via AP

A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 plane. File photo: AFP

Ukrainian prisoners of war after their release from Russian captivity earlier this month. Photo: Presidential Press Service of Ukraine

Ukraine war: Russia says Kyiv shot down military plane, killing all on board, including 65 of its own POWs

Smoke rises from the scene of a warplane crash at a residential area near Yablonovo, Belgorod region on Wednesday. Russia says a military transport plane that was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed in a Russian region near Ukraine. Photo: Validated UGC video via AP

Flames rise from the scene of a warplane that crashed at a residential area near Yablonovo, Belgorod region, on Wednesday. Photo: Validated UGC video via AP

The Il-76 military transport aircraft is designed to airlift troops, cargo, military equipment and weapons. It can carry 90 passengers, and a crew of 5. Photo: AFP

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The CIA video’s main, fictional character is an unnamed 35-year-old male employee of Russia’s military intelligence agency who casts himself as a patriot who loves Russia and once served as a paratrooper. Photo: CIA via YouTube

Ukraine war: at least 27 dead in attack on busy market in Russian-occupied Donetsk

Locals at the scene following the shelling of the food market in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Photo: EPA-EFE

The aftermath of the shelling on the food market. Photo: EPA-EFE

 A fire broke out at a chemical transport terminal at Russia’s Ust-Luga port following two explosions. Photo: Reuters

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Moscow says Kyiv shot down a military transport aircraft carrying 65 of its own captured soldiers to a prisoner swap
Zelensky did not confirm or deny the claim, but said the Russians were ‘playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners’


Moscow says Kyiv shot down a military transport aircraft carrying 65 of its own captured soldiers to a prisoner swap.


Kyiv demands international inquiry into Ukrainian POW plane crash

Moscow says Kyiv shot down a military transport aircraft carrying 65 of its own captured soldiers to a prisoner swap Zelensky did not confirm or deny the claim, but said the Russians were ‘playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners’

Moscow says Kyiv shot down a military transport aircraft carrying 65 of its own captured soldiers to a prisoner swap

Zelensky did not confirm or deny the claim, but said the Russians were ‘playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners’