Russia claims Ukraine had 15 minutes’ notice of POW flight

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From Reuters

MOSCOW/KIEV – A senior Russian lawmaker said he gave Ukrainian military intelligence a 15-minute warning before entering the area where a Russian military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war was shot down on Wednesday.

Russia accuses Ukraine of shooting down the plane, killing all 74 people on board and on board, including 65 Ukrainian soldiers who were captured while being exchanged for Russian prisoners.

Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied Russia’s claims, but has called for an international investigation.

“The Ukrainian side was formally warned and given full information 15 minutes before the plane entered the zone, and the General Directorate of Military Intelligence of Ukraine also informed them,” Andrei Kartapolov told his colleagues, according to the newspaper. I have confirmed that I have received it,” he said. Ruling United Russia Party.

“We all know very well what happened next,” added Kartapolov, a former general with close ties to the Defense Ministry and current chairman of the Russian parliament’s defense committee.

His claims directly contradict statements by Ukrainian military intelligence that Russia had not informed him of the flight arrangements.

As the war nears the end of its second year, contradictory narratives from both sides are commonplace. But the stakes are particularly high for Wednesday’s incident, which was the deadliest of its kind in Russia’s own internationally recognized territory.

The Russian government has declared the downing of a military transport plane Ilyushin 76 in the Belgorod region of southwestern Russia, near the border with Ukraine, to be an act of terrorism committed by Ukraine.

investigation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that more clarity was needed about what happened, especially who was on board, and accused Russia of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners.”

He called for an international investigation, a call echoed by Ukraine’s ombudsman Dmytro Rubinets on Thursday.

“When it comes to international investigations, I believe we will do our part to make that happen. But I am confident…Russia will make loud statements but will not allow anyone to enter. They will not hand over any material for analysis and will only blame Ukraine,” Rubinets told state television.

Russia had sole access to the crash site, and television footage showed debris strewn across a snowy field.

The plane’s black box was recovered and transported to Moscow for examination at a defense ministry laboratory, state news agency TASS said.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency confirmed on Wednesday that a prisoner exchange was scheduled to take place, but said it had not been informed how Russia would get the prisoners to the handover point.

He also said that, unlike previous exchange agreements, Ukraine was not required to secure the airspace around Belgorod.

The UN Security Council was scheduled to convene at 22:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on Thursday in response to Russia’s call for a meeting to find out “the reasons behind Ukraine’s criminal actions”.