Russia, Ukraine trade blames over plane crash

KYIV/MOSCOW — Questions remained over the military plane crash that Russia said had killed dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers ahead of a planned prisoner exchange, with Moscow and Kyiv trading accusations at the United Nations Security Council.

Russia has blamed Ukrainian forces for downing the IL-76 transport plane over the southern Belgorod region on Wednesday. It said 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers were on board, as well as their escorts and the crew.

Videos on social media showed a large plane plummeting from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball, in what the Kremlin called a “monstrous act”.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had opened a “terrorism” probe into the crash, saying the plane was downed by a “missile from the territory of Ukraine”.

“Fragmented remains of people were found, as well as the flight recorders of the aircraft, which were sent for decoding,” the committee said.

Ukraine’s SBU security service also announced it had opened a criminal probe into the downing, specifically into “violations of the laws and customs of war”.

At an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Thursday evening, requested by Russia to discuss the downed plane, Moscow and Kyiv both sought to pin the blame on the other.

“All of the information that we have today shows that we are dealing with a premeditated, thoughtthrough crime,” said Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy, adding that Ukraine’s leaders “knew the route very well, knew about the way the soldiers were going to be transported to the place of exchange”.

He accused Kyiv of sacrificing its own troops “to Western geopolitical interests”.

But Ukraine’s Deputy Ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn rejected the accusation. “Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, roads and means of transportation of the captives,” she said.

While Ukraine has not denied outright that it downed the plane, officials in Kyiv have questioned key aspects of Russia’s narrative, such as whether Ukrainian servicemen were killed.

Ukraine’s military intelligence said it had no “comprehensive information” detailing who was on the flight.

15-minute warning

But a senior Russian lawmaker said Ukrainian military intelligence had been given a 15-minute warning before the plane entered the area where it was shot down.

“The Ukrainian side was officially warned, and 15 minutes before the plane entered the zone, they were given complete information,” Andrei Kartopolov, a former general with close ties to Russia’s Defense Ministry, told lawmakers, according to the ruling United Russia party. He said Ukraine’s military command confirmed receipt of the warning.

Ukrainian media initially cited defense sources saying that the Ukrainian army had downed the plane, and that it had been carrying missiles. Those claims were quickly retracted.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has neither confirmed nor denied Moscow’s claims.