Zelensky seeks international investigation following Kremlin charges of plane crash

The Kremlin has again accused Ukraine of ousting a Russian military plane, which said it was transporting 65 Ukrainian soldiers caught during the war, which on January 24th were being transported in exchange. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international investigation into this case.

The plane crashed in the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border.

The collapse of the military transporter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called <x0ukt monstruous”, though Moscow has not yet shown any evidence that it was crashed by a Ukrainian missile or that Ukrainian soldiers were on board.

Until he said who dropped the plane, Zelensky said that “should prove all facts... our state will insist on an international investigation”.

Ukrainian officials have said that the exchange of prisoners was scheduled to take place on 24 January, and Russia had not informed Ukraine that Ukrainian prisoners would fly on cargo planes.

Ukraine's main intelligence directorate said there are no “reliable information and inclusive” about who was aboard the aircraft, but said the Russian prisoners responsible for “surrendered in time to the conditional exchange point where they were safe”.

aviation experts told Radio Europe Free that it was possible for a Ukrainian antiaircraft missile to crash the plane, but added that it may also have been Russian antiaircraft.

“During the investigation, you can easily determine which system crashed the plane based on the damaging elements of the missiles, said Roman Swittan, a reserve colonel of Ukraine's Armed Forces and a fighter aviation instructor pilot.

When asked about Russian claims on dozens of inmates on board, Svitan said that from images published so far, he has seen no evidence to support the statements.

From the looks that were there, I looked at it all, it's not clear where there are dozens of bodies... there's no one body at all. One time I was a military investigator, including the investigation of disasters; believe me, if there were seventy or eighty people there, the field would be scattered with corpses and remains”, Svitan added.

Russia accused Ukraine of deliberately bringing down military transporter Ilyusin Il-76, saying the Russian radar registered the release of two missiles from Ukraine's Harkiwi region, which borders the Belgorod region.

The Ukrainian Army General Staff said in a statement that did not mention the crash, that the Ukrainian Army had noticed more Russian military transport planes landing in Belgorod, and linked it to Russian missile attacks in Harkiv and other Ukrainian cities.

With this in mind, Ukraine's Armed Forces will continue to take measures to destroy distribution tools and exercise air space control to eliminate the terrorist threat, including in Belgorod-Harkov”, Telegram says.

A Ukrainian military intelligence statement on Facebook said Kiev was not asked to ensure the safety of airspace around the Belgorod area, as was the case during previous exchanges of prisoners of war.

He said Russia's accusations that Kiev brought down the transport plane could be “a move planned to destabilise the situation in Ukraine and weaken international support for our state”.

Russia called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council on January 25th to discuss the crash of the plane, which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called a <x0 criminal act” by Ukraine.

Russian officials said the plane carried 65 Ukrainian soldiers, six crew members and three escorts.

Radio Free Europe has provided a list of six crew members, supposed to be on the flight. The deaths of the three crew members have confirmed for REL's relatives.

The social media video showed a plane rotating to the ground, followed by a loud noise, and an explosion that sent fire and smokeball to the sky.