Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that it was “evident” that Ukraine was responsible for shooting down a Russian IL-76 military transport aircraft.
The plane, reportedly carrying Ukrainian prisoners, was downed over the Belgorod border region earlier this week.
Moscow claims that the aircraft was en route to the region for a scheduled prisoner exchange on Wednesday when anti-aircraft missiles hit it. The plane allegedly had 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war onboard.
While Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the incident, there has been scepticism from Ukrainian officials regarding the presence of prisoners on the aircraft.
In his initial response to the crash, Putin, addressing student soldiers, asserted, “It is clear that they did it,” referring to Ukraine. He suggested whether the act was deliberate or thoughtless.
Moreover, Putin accused Ukraine of being aware of Russia’s plans to transport the prisoners and deliberately targeting the plane. Kyiv has strongly contested this claim.
Putin labelled the incident as a criminal act, regardless of the circumstances.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have launched criminal investigations into the crash. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has advocated for an international inquiry into the matter.
Ukraine acknowledged the scheduled prisoner swap but indicated that it had not been informed of the soldiers being transported to the border region by air, a deviation from previous practices.
