Ukrainian officers didn’t deal with straight the accusations from Moscow that Ukraine killed its personal troopers however their feedback appeared to permit for that risk. Ukraine’s Primary Directorate of Intelligence confirmed {that a} prisoner swap was scheduled to happen Wednesday.
The directorate, nevertheless, stated that it “lacks credible and complete info relating to who precisely was on board the aircraft and in what amount.”
“Ukraine fulfilled all agreements for change preparations. Russian prisoners have been well timed delivered to the agreed-upon change level, the place they have been stored protected,” the intelligence company stated in a press release. “Per the agreements, the Russian aspect was answerable for guaranteeing the security of our defenders. Concurrently, Ukraine was not knowledgeable concerning the necessity of securing the airspace over the town of Belgorod through the specified interval, as has been communicated up to now.”
Russia additionally didn’t inform Ukraine about the way it deliberate to move the prisoners, in line with the directorate’s assertion, including that “touchdown a transport aircraft in a 30-kilometer fight zone can’t be thought of protected and ought to be mentioned by each events, because it jeopardizes your entire change course of.”
In an earlier assertion, the Russian Protection Ministry stated “the Ukrainian management knew very nicely that, in line with established observe, in the present day Ukrainian navy personnel could be transported by navy transport plane to the Belgorod airfield for change.”
The swap was alleged to happen on the Kolotilovka border checkpoint, which separates Russia’s Belgorod area from the Sumy area in Ukraine, the ministry added.
Not one of the claims, both about who was aboard or about the reason for the crash, might be independently verified.
The Russian International Ministry accused Ukraine of committing “a terrorist act” and doubled down on the assertion that Ukraine was knowledgeable of the routes and technique of transportation getting used to place the prisoners for the commerce.
“The assault on the aircraft was a deliberate and acutely aware motion,” the International Ministry stated. “The terrorist assault clearly demonstrates the lack of the Kyiv regime to barter.”
Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov requested an pressing U.N. Safety Council assembly in reference to the crash.
The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Therapy of Prisoners of Conflict stated in a press release early Wednesday that it was nonetheless analyzing stories concerning the crash.
“Earlier than official statements or feedback by licensed people or authorities are launched, we urge the media and residents to chorus from spreading unverified info,” the physique stated. “Emphasizing that the enemy actively conducts info particular operations towards Ukraine geared toward destabilizing Ukrainian society.”
Whereas the reason for the crash couldn’t be confirmed, senior Russian officers, with out offering proof, stated the aircraft was shot down by Ukrainian forces utilizing both German or U.S.-made missiles.
Quick video clips of the crash website revealed on Russian state media and Telegram channels confirmed scattered particles on a snowy subject however little else from the scene.
One official, Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the protection committee in Russia’s decrease home of parliament, stated {that a} second aircraft had narrowly escaped an analogous catastrophe.
“There was the second Il-76 aircraft following, which was carrying about 80 extra prisoners of warfare. It was rerouted in time,” Kartapolov stated.
“The management of Ukraine was nicely conscious of the upcoming change; they have been knowledgeable about how the prisoners could be delivered,” Kartapolov added. “However the Il-76 aircraft was shot down by three missiles from both a Patriot or an Iris-T antiaircraft missile system made in Germany.”
The speaker of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, stated lawmakers would maintain their U.S. and German counterparts accountable.
“The defenseless pilots of our navy transport aircraft who have been conducting a humanitarian mission have been shot utilizing American, German missiles,” Volodin stated throughout a parliamentary session. “Lawmakers of those nations should notice their accountability, the place that is all main.”
Belgorod area has served as a staging floor for the Russian forces for the reason that February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the regional capital, additionally known as Belgorod, is the one main Russian metropolis that has come underneath sustained assault with a current improve in Ukrainian shelling. On Dec. 30, 25 individuals have been killed in a rocket and missile assault there.
Serhiy Morgunov in Lisbon contributed to this report.