Kyiv wary as Russia claims 65 Ukrainian POWs killed in border plane strike

Kyiv sources have cast doubt on Moscow’s claim that Ukraine killed 65 of its own soldiers by shooting down a Russian military transport plane that was taking them to a prisoner exchange.

Mobile phone footage posted online showed an Il-76 plane plunging to earth and exploding in flames on Wednesday morning in the Russian border region of Belgorod, which is often hit by shelling and drone strikes and occasional missile fire from nearby Ukraine.

Russia’s defence ministry said the plane was shot down by missiles launched from the neighbouring Kharkiv region in Ukraine, in a “terrorist act” that killed all 74 people on board – nine Russian crew members and soldiers, and 65 Ukrainian prisoners.

“The Ukrainian leadership was well aware that, in accordance with established practice, Ukrainian servicemen would be transported by military transport aircraft to the Belgorod airfield today to be exchanged,” the ministry said in a statement. “This event was to take place in the afternoon at the Kolotilovka checkpoint on the Russian-Ukrainian border…By committing this terrorist act the Ukrainian leadership showed its true face. It disregarded the lives of its own citizens.”

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Russian deputy Andrei Kartapolov said another similar plane carrying about 80 more Ukrainian prisoners for exchange turned around and landed safely after the incident, which he claimed involved air defence systems provided to Kyiv by the US or Germany.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency said after the plane crash that a prisoner exchange planned for Wednesday would not take place.

“Currently Ukraine does not have reliable and comprehensive information about exactly who was on board the plane and how many they were,” the agency said. “The Russian side had to ensure the safety of our defenders. At the same time the Ukrainian side was not informed about the need to ensure the safety of airspace in the Belgorod city area for a certain period of time, as was repeatedly done in the past. This may indicate deliberate actions by Russia to create a threat to the life and safety of prisoners,” and to “destabilise the situation in Ukraine and weaken international support for our state,” GUR said.

The incident came after a series of deadly and destructive Russian attacks on Kharkiv using powerful ballistic missiles that are often fired from just over the border in Belgorod. Without directly referring to the fate of the Il-76, Kyiv’s military said it was closely monitoring deliveries of weapons to Belgorod for use in attacks on Kharkiv, and vowed to keep destroying Russia’s supply lines and the “terrorist threat” in the border area.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior ministry, cast doubt on Russia’s account. He said the plane crashed while taking off from Belgorod, not landing; that very few bodies were visible in footage from the crash site; and that a Russian list of prisoners supposedly on board the plane included Ukrainian servicemen who had already been freed.

“We are sure there were no prisoners there,” an unnamed source in Ukraine’s air force told the country’s respected New Voice media outlet.