KYIV: Russia and Kiev exchanged accusations at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday as questions remained over a military plane crash in which Russia said it killed dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers ahead of a planned prisoner exchange.
Russia on Wednesday accused the Ukrainian military of shooting down an IL-76 transport plane over the southern Belgorod region.
The ship was said to be carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers, their escorts and crew.
Videos on social media showed a large plane in the area plummeting sideways from above before crashing in a fireball, in what the Kremlin called a “heinous act.”
The Russian Investigative Committee, which investigates serious crimes, said it had opened a “terrorism” investigation into the crash, claiming the plane was shot down by “a missile from Ukrainian territory.”
The company released a 39-second video of the scene, showing an aerial view of a large blackened area of mostly snow-covered fields and some damaged trees.
The video also showed twisted blocks of metal and wire, as well as hands and arms, but it was unclear whether they belonged to one or two people. No other human remains were shown.
“Fragmented bodies of people and the flight recorder of the aircraft, which was sent for deciphering, were discovered,” the commission said.
Ukraine's SBU Security Service also announced that it had opened a criminal investigation into the shooting, specifically regarding “violations of the laws and customs of war.”
Ukraine's rights ombudsman Dmytro Rubinets called on the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to allow a visit to the crash site.
The ICRC did not respond to Kiev's request, but said in a statement to AFP that the crash reports were “alarming”.
“We will not make any comments or speculation at this stage until the facts are known.”
An emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday night was called by Russia to discuss the downed plane, and both Russia and Kiev sought to shift the blame onto the other.
Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said: “All the information we have today shows that we are dealing with a premeditated and well-planned crime.” “He knew very well, and he knew how to do it,'' he added. The soldiers were scheduled to be transferred to an exchange location. ”
He accused Kiev of sacrificing its military “for Western geopolitical interests.”
Ukraine's deputy ambassador Kristina Hayovyshyn rejected the accusations, saying, “Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, the roads, and the means of transportation of prisoners.”
“This alone could constitute a deliberate Russian action that endangers the lives and safety of prisoners of war,” she said.
Ukraine has not completely denied shooting down the plane, but Kiev officials have questioned key aspects of Russia's narrative, including whether Ukrainian servicemen were killed.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency said it did not have “comprehensive information” detailing who was on the flight.
Kiev confirmed that exchanges were planned at the two countries' border later on Wednesday.
However, military intelligence said the Russian side had not given advance notice that the prisoners would be transported by plane, as in the past.
In another carefully worded statement, the Ukrainian military noted the increased Russian military activity in the Belgorod region and pledged to continue attacks on Russian military targets. This, too, did not specifically address Moscow's claims.
Ukrainian media initially reported, citing defense sources, that the Ukrainian military shot down the plane and that it was equipped with missiles. These claims were quickly retracted.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has neither confirmed nor denied the Russian government's claims.
He said late Wednesday that Russia was “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war” and called for an international investigation.
Russian authorities issued a series of statements presenting their side of the story, but provided no evidence that there were any prisoners on board.
The Russian government has been far more cautious about previous incidents.
For example, when Kiev claimed to have shot down a Russian A-50 reconnaissance plane and damaged an Il-22 bomber over the Azov Sea last week, the country made no comment.
In August, a plane carrying Evgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner mercenaries, crashed on a flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
Mr Prigozhin was killed along with his aides in the attack two months after he angered President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to overthrow Russia's military leadership.
President Putin claimed that the plane crashed because a passenger detonated a grenade on board, but Russia offered no evidence.
When Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board, the Kremlin offered a variety of explanations, sometimes contradictory.
In 2022, a Dutch court sentenced three men fighting in Kremlin-backed separatist groups to life in prison in absentia.
Separately, Ukrainian security sources told AFP on Thursday that security services in Kiev orchestrated a nighttime drone attack on an oil refinery in the southern Russian town of Tuapse.
Kiev has stepped up strikes against Russian oil and gas facilities over the past two months, saying it was part of “just” retaliation for Russia's attacks on its energy infrastructure.
Ukraine has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure in the past two weeks, including a massive fire at a warehouse in western Russia last Friday.
Russia announced Thursday that a woman was killed in a drone attack in the village of Lozovaya Rudka, located directly on the border with Ukraine in the Belgorod region.