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Only rubble left: A Russian investigator examines the plane wreckage

Photo: Russian Investigative Committee / EPA

The crash of a Russian military plane in the border region with Ukraine has led to a heated exchange between diplomats from both countries in the UN Security Council. "All the information we have today shows that we are dealing with a premeditated, well-thought-out crime," said Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitri Polyansky on Thursday. The Ukrainian authorities knew "very well" the route over which Ukrainian prisoners of war were to be flown for a prisoner swap.

For an "inexplicable reason, Kiev decided to sabotage the procedure, and in the most barbaric way," Poljanski continued at the meeting in New York. Ukraine is "willing to sacrifice its own citizens for the geopolitical interests of the West."

Crash in the Belgorod region

However, Ukraine's deputy ambassador to the UN, Chrystyna Hajovyshyn, said that Ukraine had not been informed about the number and type of means of transport used to transport the prisoners. "That alone could represent deliberate actions by Russia to endanger the lives and safety of prisoners."

If the information is confirmed that there were Ukrainian prisoners of war on board the plane, this would be a "serious violation of international humanitarian law by Russia," said Hajovyshyn. It would be “the first case of Russia using an airborne human shield” to cover weapons shipments.

According to Russian media, the Ilyushin plane crashed in the border region of Belgorod on Wednesday. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board who were on their way to a prisoner exchange near the Ukrainian border. Moscow accuses Ukraine of shooting down the plane.

According to information from Kiev, there is no evidence that Ukrainian prisoners of war were actually on board. "Despite the large number of loud and rude statements and accusations, no evidence has been presented so far," the spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence service, Andriy Yussov, said on Thursday, according to Ukrainian media.

The UN Security Council meeting on the crash was requested by Russia. Representatives of Western states emphasized at the meeting that the crash would never have occurred without Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

“Senseless and self-imposed war”

"Russia has repeatedly tried to shift responsibility for the tragedies of this senseless and self-imposed war onto others, as if it were the victim and not the aggressor," said US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, there have been several crashes of military aircraft in Russia. In October 2022, a Russian fighter jet crashed into a building in the city of Yeysk on Russia's Sea of ​​Azov coast. 15 people were killed.

In August 2023, two months after the uprising of his mercenary group Wagner against the Russian military leadership, the private plane with Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on board crashed on the flight from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. In addition to the Wagner boss, his deputy Dmitri Utkin and eight other people also died.

hen/AFP