Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations over the fatal crash of a military transport plane that Moscow claims was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war and was shot down by Kyiv’s forces.
The Russian Il-76 was filmed crashing on Wednesday in a huge ball of fire in a rural area of Russia near the border with Ukraine. Moscow quickly accused Kyiv of shooting down the large aircraft and said it was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were being transported for a prisoner exchange.
Ukrainian officials on Thursday did not explicitly deny shooting down the aircraft but said they could not confirm that Ukrainian soldiers on their way to a prisoner exchange were on board the plane.
Some officials in Kyiv cast doubt on Russia’s claim that prisoners of war were on board.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, wrote on X: “Currently, there are no signs of the fact that there were so many people on the Il-76 plane, be they citizens of Ukraine or not.
“Ukraine demands a transparent international investigation regarding the downing of this plane.”
The cause of the crash remains unknown.
Kyiv previously confirmed a prisoner exchange was due to take place on Wednesday at the border between the two countries but said Moscow did not inform them that any prisoners of war would be transported by plane.
Ukraine’s SBU security service on Thursday opened a criminal investigation into the shooting down of the military plane, saying it would look into possible “violations of the laws and customs of war”.
On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy similarly called for an international investigation into the crash, accusing Moscow of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war”.
[ Kyiv wary as Russia claims 65 Ukrainian POWs killed in border plane strikeOpens in new window ]
He said in his nightly video broadcast: “It is clear that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, the feelings of their loved ones and the emotions of our society.”
But Russia’s access to the area where the crash happened will likely hamper any future investigation and no independent groups have yet visited the crash site.
Both sides on Thursday also offered conflicting narratives over the hours preceding the plane crash. A senior Russian politician said Ukrainian military intelligence had been given a 15-minute warning before the plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war entered an area where it was shot down.
Andrey Kartapolov, who heads Russia’s Duma defence committee, said: “The Ukrainian side was officially warned, and 15 minutes before the plane entered the zone they were given complete information, which they received and the main intelligence directorate of the Ukrainian armed forces confirmed receipt of.”
Ukraine rejected Mr Kartapolov’s claims, stating that Moscow had not informed it about the flight arrangements.
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Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said on Thursday that, contrary to practice before previous prisoner swaps, Kyiv had received no requests from Russia to refrain from offensive actions.
Nevertheless, Mr Yusov appeared to hint that Ukrainian prisoners could have been on board, telling Radio Svoboda: “Unfortunately, we can assume various scenarios, including provocation, as well as the use of Ukrainian prisoners as a human shield for transporting ammunition and weapons for S-300 systems [being used in the war].”
The Kremlin on Thursday stuck to its position that Ukraine had shot down the plane, with President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson describing it as “a totally monstrous act”.
Conflicting narratives from both sides have emerged as a daily feature of a war that is nearing the end of its second year. Many of Russia’s denials and accusations during the war have proved to be demonstrably untrue, including Moscow’s claims that the country has not targeted civilians in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian courts have jailed a prominent ultranationalist critic of Vladimir Putin and, separately, a woman convicted over a blast that killed a pro-war blogger.
In Moscow, a court sentenced Igor Girkin, a former battlefield commander of Russian proxy forces in east Ukraine who was convicted by a Dutch court over the shooting down of flight MH17, to four years in jail on extremism charges prompted by his criticism of the Russian war effort in Ukraine.
Girkin, who also goes by the nom de guerre Strelkov, was a leading military commander of the pro-Russian forces who occupied eastern Ukrainian cities beginning in 2014. His armed intervention backed by Russia marked the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine.
[ Moscow and Kyiv stage largest documented prisoner swap of Ukraine conflictOpens in new window ]
[ Russian police arrest woman over blast that killed military bloggerOpens in new window ]
In a separate case on Thursday, a Russian woman was jailed for 27 years for delivering a bomb that exploded in the hands of a pro-war military blogger last year.
Darya Trepova (26) was convicted by a St Petersburg court of charges including terrorism in connection with the death of the popular pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. Her sentence is one of the longest given to a woman in modern Russian history.
Mr Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was hosting a discussion with other right-wing commentators at a cafe on the banks of the Neva river in the historic heart of St Petersburg when he was killed.
Footage published at the time showed Trepova handing Mr Tatarsky a statuette out of a box – a small figurine in his likeness and painted gold – followed by a large explosion.
Trepova claimed at the trial that she was set up, saying she did not know there was an explosive device in the bust and thought the statuette contained a listening device, not a bomb. – Guardian