Zelensky said Russia is playing with the lives of the prisoners from Ukraine
Following a fatal jet crash in western Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, charged that Moscow was playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners.
Following the incident on Wednesday near the Ukrainian border in the Belgorod region, he called for an international investigation.
After Kyiv shot down the Il-76 airliner carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six Russian crew members, and three bodyguards, Russia claimed there were no survivors. Unlike in the past, to Ukraine’s military intelligence, it was not instructed to guarantee secure airspace.
President Zelensky stated that it was obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society in his video message late on Wednesday.
Mr. Zelensky emphasized that all clear facts must be established and canceled a planned regional trip that was associated with his birthday on Thursday.
Even while Ukraine’s military intelligence emphasized that it lacked solid information regarding the passengers, their remarks earlier in the day were interpreted as a veiled admission that they had shot down the military cargo plane.
Social media users posted footage of a jet falling down, followed by a fireball and explosion close to Yablonovo hamlet, which is located 70 kilometers (44 miles) northeast of Belgorod. The incident occurred at approximately 11:00 local time (08:00 GMT).
All occupants of the aircraft perished when it crashed in a field close to a residential neighborhood, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Belgorod.
Ukrainska Pravda website, the general staff of Ukraine first stated that the aircraft was carrying missiles for Russia’s S-300 air defense systems. PoWs were not mentioned at all.
Russia was tasked with ensuring the safety of our defenders under the agreements that had been reached to Ukraine’s military intelligence, however none of the circumstances surrounding those on board can be independently verified.
This time, it said it was unaware that the airspace needed to be protected at the defined time, which is something that had happened on numerous occasions before.
This can point to Russia’s deliberate actions aimed at putting the lives and safety of the Paws under threat, it stated. Ever since the war began, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners on several occasions.
