IRIA News

The downing of a Russian military transport plane, carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war and nine Russians, raises questions and suspicions as Russia alleges that Ukraine shot down the Ilyushin-76 plane over the Belgorod border region. Ukraine did not confirm or deny it had shot down the plane but challenged Moscow’s claims.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) were on the plane along with six Russian crew and three Russian soldiers. All were killed.

The Russian military said the Ukrainian POWs were being flown to the region for a prisoner swap. Ukrainian authorities confirmed a prisoner exchange was scheduled but said it was called off.

Kyiv initially remained silent as details of the plane crash emerged Wednesday morning. Later, Ukraine’s intelligence agency said that it did not have “reliable and comprehensive information about who exactly was on board the plane and how many of them.”

What happened?

On January 24, the Il-76 plane was hit as it was travelling from a military aerodrome near Moscow to Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine and has been targeted in recent weeks by Ukrainian air strikes.

Videos of the crash posted on social media showed the Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft falling from the sky in a snowy, rural area, as a massive ball of fire erupted. International media outlets could not independently confirm who was aboard or how the plane was downed.

Ukraine military intelligence said Kyiv was not asked to ensure air space security around the Belgorod area in southern Russia as had been the case during previous prisoner swaps with Moscow.

“Unfortunately, we can assume various scenarios, including provocation, as well as the use of Ukrainian prisoners as a human shield for transporting ammunition and weapons for S-300 systems,” Andriy Yusov, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson. told Radio Liberty.

Key Facts

• Russia says 74 killed in downed military plane
• Russia claims 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board
• Moscow accuses Ukraine of shooting the plane down
• Ukraine does not confirm or deny it hit the aircraft

Russia accused Ukraine of shooting down the aircraft

Russian officials accused Kyiv of shooting down the plane with two missiles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov alleged that Ukraine had downed the plane, describing it as “a totally monstrous act.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said the plane was destroyed by an anti-aircraft missile system deployed in the area of Liptsy in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from where the plane came down. Without offering any evidence, the Russian ministry claimed that radars had detected the launch of two Ukrainian missiles.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Ukraine for downing the plane, describing it as “a totally monstrous act.”

Several Russian lawmakers blamed Ukraine’s armed forces of shooting down one of Russian Ilyushin-76 transport planes and claimed that one of the planes was brought down by three Patriot or IRIS-T missiles that Ukraine received from its Western allies.

Black boxes recovered

Two black boxes of the IL-76 aircraft of the Russian Air Force, which crashed in the Belgorod region, have been retrieved and delivered to a special laboratory of Russia’s defence ministry. “Both black boxes have been discovered — a flight parameters recording device and a voice recorder,” the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Zelenskyy accuses Russia of ‘playing’ with POW lives

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners” over the crash of a military transport plane.

Zelenskyy didn’t directly address Moscow’s allegation nor did he confirm or deny Russia’s claims, but said it had been a “very difficult day”.

“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 said late Wednesday. “It’s obvious Russians are playing with lives of Ukrainian POWs, with the feelings of their relatives and the emotions of our society.”

Ukraine opens criminal probe into downing of Russian plane

Soon after the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called for an international investigation, Ukraine’s SBU security service has opened a criminal probe into the crashing of a Russian military plane that Moscow said killed 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

“The security service of Ukraine has opened a criminal investigation into the downing of an IL-76 Russian Air Force plane in the Belgorod region,” the SBU press service said. “The SBU is currently taking a range of measures to clarify all the circumstances of the downing,” it said.

UN Security Council to discuss Russian plane crash

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC), which was expected to take place on Thursday afternoon in New York. He said that  Russia sought the session so that Ukrainians could explain how the plane went down.

“Ukrainian prisoners of war were transported to the Belgorod region in order to carry out the next exchange agreed between Moscow and Kyiv. Instead of this exchange taking place, the Ukrainian side attacked this plane with anti-aircraft missiles from the Kharkiv region, which became fatal,” Lavrov said.