January 26 ------ Russia accused Ukraine of shooting down a military transport plane carrying dozens of Ukrainian detainees headed for a prisoner exchange, killing everyone on board.
Kyiv confirmed that a prisoner swap was due to occur that day, but said several hours after the crash it still had no reliable information on the passengers, as President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international investigation. The Kremlin agreed, with its spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling it "a monstrous act." "No one can say what impact this will have" on extending the prisoner-exchange program, he said on Thursday. "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. In an evening address, Zelensky 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.
Deadly episode
Agence France-Presse (AFP) could not independently verify the Russian claims, but the incident would represent one of the single most deadly episodes of the full-scale invasion in weeks. Russia's Defense Ministry said the crash had come hours ahead of the planned prisoner exchange at a border crossing in Belgorod. "The Ukrainian leadership was well aware that, in accordance with established practice, the Ukrainian servicemen to be exchanged would be transported by military transport aircraft to the Belgorod aerodrome today," it said. kraine's intelligence agency denied this and accused Russia of "endangering the lives and safety of prisoners." Ukrainian media initially cited defense sources, saying Ukraine's army had downed the plane, and that it was carrying missiles. The claim was later retracted.
In a carefully worded statement published after the crash, the Ukrainian army said it would continue to target Russian aircraft in Belgorod. It also said a number of shelling attacks on Ukrainian territory were "directly related" to Russian military transport aircraft flying to Belgorod airfield. The crash occurred in Korochansky district, northeast of the Belgorod region's capital at about 0800 GMT, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. He added that the aircraft was downed in a field, and the area had been closed off while investigators and emergency services worked at the scene. Meanwhile, the head of Russian-state broadcaster RT published a list of captured Ukrainian servicemen allegedly on board. The issue of prisoners of war (POWs) is sensitive in both countries. Despite full-scale hostilities, the two sides have carried out 49 prisoner exchanges since the conflict began almost two years ago. Kyiv says more than 8,000 Ukrainians remain in Russian captivity, including civilians. In 2022, Russia and Ukraine accused each other of carrying out deadly bombardments on a jail holding dozens of captured Ukrainian servicemen in Kremlin-controlled Olenivka, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, several Russian military aircraft have crashed, and Ukraine has also claimed to have shot down Russian war planes.
Source: manilatimes.net
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