He points his finger at Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin assured on Friday that the Il-76 military transport plane that crashed in the border region on Wednesday was shot down by Ukrainian forces and that they knew it was carrying Ukrainian prisoners.
An Il-76 transport plane crashed near the Russian village of Yablonovo, 45 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, on Wednesday, killing all 74 passengers, Russian authorities said. “The special services of the Ukrainian army knew that we were carrying 65 military personnel (Ukrainians – editor’s note) on board. They shot him, by mistake or intentionally, but they did it,” Vladimir Putin assured.
This is not the first time that Moscow has blamed Kyiv for the disaster without providing any evidence. Ukraine, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, has expressed doubt about the presence of Ukrainian prisoners on board. Both Ukraine and Russia began investigating the tragedy.
For its part, the Kremlin on Friday rejected the idea of publishing evidence of the presence of Ukrainian prisoners on board the plane. “The investigation is working, I have nothing to say about this,” his press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters who questioned him on this matter.
Ukraine condemns “propaganda”
On Thursday evening, Russia’s Investigative Committee released a nearly 40-second video showing footage of a forested area and a snow-covered field. A few fallen trees and a piece of crumpled metal are visible, as well as one or two blurred bodies, but there is no sign of the huge wreck of a destroyed military aircraft.
On Friday, the Investigative Committee released a second video showing more debris and a forensic team closing a body bag. Also visible are three identification documents of the killed Ukrainian soldiers. AFP cannot confirm their authenticity or the authenticity of the video.
Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmitry Lubinets, for his part, confirmed that Russian reports about the disaster constitute “propaganda.” Ukraine has received “no information” from Russia on the matter, he lamented, asking, like its President Volodymyr Zelensky, for an independent international investigation.
At the same time, Ukrainian authorities said they had repatriated the bodies of 77 dead Ukrainian soldiers, a “long-planned” procedure completed despite the disaster occurring in grim conditions.
“The remains of 77 Ukrainian defenders have been returned to government-controlled territory,” the Ukrainian coordination center responsible for prisoners of war said on Friday. “This repatriation has been planned for a long time,” he said.
This procedure, which thus does not appear to be related to the downing of the Russian plane, nevertheless comes at a time when the issue of soldiers in Moscow’s hands and their exchange is particularly sensitive.
Source: Le Parisien
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
