Russia deliberately risked lives in downed plane - Kyiv
The video of a Russian plane crash in the Belgorod region has been confirmed by the BBC to be true and accurate.
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Ukraine's military intelligence has claimed that Russia is intentionally putting the lives of prisoners of war in danger. This came after Moscow alleged that Kyiv had shot down a plane carrying 65 PoWs.
The Ilyushin-76, which was a military transport plane, had an accident in the southern part of Russia's Belgorod area that is close to Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense in Russia has declared that Ukrainian prisoners of war are being transported by air to Belgorod for the purpose of a prisoner exchange.
Kyiv has claimed that it did not receive any directives to guarantee the safety of airspace as it has in the past.
People are interpreting the recent statement from Ukrainian military intelligence as an implied admission that they were responsible for shooting down the plane. However, they made it clear that they have no trustworthy information regarding the occupants of the plane.
The Ria Novosti news agency reported that there were nine additional individuals on board the aircraft, of which six were crew members.
A video that was posted on social media demonstrated a situation in which a plane was plummeting downwards. This was closely followed by an intense explosion and a massive fireball, which occurred near the village of Yablonovo. This location is situated approximately 70 kilometers (44 miles) to the north-east of Belgorod city. This event is said to have transpired at roughly 11:00 am in the local time zone, which is equivalent to 08:00 am in the GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) other users may be in.
The leader of the local government in the Belgorod region of Russia, Vyacheslav Gladkov, revealed that a plane had crashed into a field close to a residential neighborhood and unfortunately, none of the individuals on board survived.
According to the Ukrainska Pravda website, the general staff of Ukraine stated that the plane carried missiles intended for Russia's S-300 air defense systems. However, there was no reference to any captured soldiers.
The accurate information regarding the individuals on the ship cannot be confirmed independently, but the Ukraine's military intelligence made it clear that Russia had the obligation to guarantee the safety of their defenders based on the pre-existing agreements.
The statement claimed that they were not told to protect the airspace at the specific designated moment, even though this had been communicated multiple times in the past.
The statement suggests that Russia may have intentionally taken actions to endanger the lives and safety of prisoners of war.
Since the commencement of the war, Ukraine and Russia have engaged in multiple exchanges of prisoners.
According to Steve Rosenberg, the editor of BBC Russia, it is evident that Russia is exploiting the plane attack to cast Ukraine as the antagonist, despite the fact that it was Russia who initiated a comprehensive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Before the scheduled exchange of prisoners, Ukrainian authorities reported that the detained Russian military personnel had been "transported to the designated location in a prompt manner for the purpose of exchange, and they were secured while there."
The Russian Ministry of Defense has reported that the exchange was supposed to occur on Wednesday afternoon at a border crossing located 100 kilometers west of Belgorod.
According to officials, a military transport aircraft departed from Chkalovsky air base situated in the north-eastern part of Moscow heading towards Belgorod. They claimed that two anti-aircraft missiles were launched by Ukraine's air force from the Lyptsi area in the southern region of the Ukrainian border.
The department of the Ukrainian government responsible for prisoners of war cautioned that Russia is currently engaged in deliberate information efforts to disrupt Ukrainian society.
The parliamentary human rights commissioner of Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, urged his fellow citizens to rely solely on official sources and not to be tricked by deliberately misleading information. He reassured them that further information regarding the matter will be shared in due course.
The head of Russia's parliamentary defence committee, Andrei Kartapolov, stated that there was another airplane carrying 80 Ukrainian detainees, which took off into the sky. However, the aircraft changed its direction afterwards.
According to Russian TV, Mr. Kartapolov stated that discussion about any other swaps involving prisoners is now off the table.
A large-scale exchange of prisoners occurred earlier this month, which marked the most significant one since the war began. The event involved the release of 248 Russian captives by Ukraine and 230 individuals by Russia. The process was facilitated and negotiated by the United Arab Emirates.
According to Ukraine's Coordination HQ on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, over 8,000 Ukrainians, including both civilians and members of the military, are currently being detained by Russia. Additionally, they report that tens of thousands of others are still unaccounted for.
The town of Belgorod, situated roughly 40 kilometers to the north of the Ukraine border, has faced multiple losses due to attacks by both aerial strikes and unmanned aerial vehicles since the start of the Ukrainian conflict.
During the month of December, an air strike occurred which resulted in the death of 25 people and the injury of 100 others. Ukraine claimed that the air strike solely targeted military infrastructure and accused Russian air defences of being responsible for the falling fragments in the city.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is continuing and has almost reached three years.
Russia stated that they have seized a nearby village of the ruined city of Bakhmut, situated in the Donetsk region on the eastern side of Ukraine last week. Yet, Kyiv has not verified the statement.
In the meantime, there has been an increase in Russian air strikes in the past few weeks. On Tuesday, missile attacks on Ukrainian cities caused the tragic death of 18 individuals and left 130 others injured.
The Defence Minister of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, has expressed concern regarding the limited ammunition available to Ukrainian forces. In contrast, over the last 60 days, Russia has employed over 600 missiles and 1,000 drones.
On the other hand, Ukraine is predominantly combating with the utilization of drones. Recently, a drone strike resulted in a blast at a significant fuel export center located in close proximity to the metropolis of St. Petersburg.
